Budget Surplus

In this year, 2011, the budget surplus in Singapore is expected to be a whopping $6 billion, which is a lot of money. This is a big difference from an official government estimate of a $3 billion deficit, which was made in February last year. To put it simply, a surplus is how much money is left over after deducting the government spending, and a deficit is when the government spending is more than the money earned. Since we have so much surplus, the government should use it wisely. Therefore, I am here to convince you of how I feel the budget surplus should be used.

I strongly believe that the budget surplus should have a substantial sum being invested into education. As a Singaporean, I hope for Singapore to have more social mobility, as it is extremely important for people to break out of poverty.

You may ask me: “Why education?” It should be education as it is definitely one good way to improve social mobility. As the 44th United States President Barack Obama said, “I stand here as President of the United States because of the education I received.” As we can see, education is of paramount importance as it provides us with many essential life skills, one of which is critical thinking. As Descartes said, “I think therefore I am.” Through this quote, we do agree that critical thinking is extremely important in our lives, as it shapes our character, and affects our decision-making. In the case of career options, critical thinking is required to allow us to make the right choice of the occupation we should take up. When we get the right job, social mobility can be achieved.

Moreover, education teaches us to be responsible people. Being responsible is extremely important. If we are responsible people, we are more trusted by others to be given bigger tasks to do. If we succeed in completing the tasks, we prove to others that we are capable of performing certain tasks. If our capabilities are recognized, we are more likely to be promoted. If we are promoted to a higher position, it aids social mobility as our income increases.

Some may argue that the money should be distributed to the lower-income earners and let them decide what they want to do with it in order to cope with the effects of inflation. However, this is not the best way, as this is just a short-term solution. They would only be able to cope for now, but in the long term, it would not be useful. Education, on the other hand, is a long-term solution. I am not saying that we should not distribute some money to them to cope with the situation now, but a larger percentage should be used to invest into education.

Therefore, I strongly recommend that we should invest the budget surplus into education, as it benefits more people. The budget surplus is going to be a huge sum, and the government should really consider how they want to use the money very wisely.
 
References:
Ally, Hydar. (2011). Importance of education as a vehicle for social mobility. http://www.guyanachronicle.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28373:importance-of-education-as-a-vehicle-for-social-mobility&catid=10:letters&Itemid=6/
(Accessed 15 August 2011)

Wikitionary. (Date Unknown). I think therefore I am.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/I_think_therefore_I_am/

Low, Aaron. (2011). Singapore Budget surplus could hit $6 billion.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_623565.html/
(Accessed 15 August 2011)