SINGAPORE: People’s Action Party (PAP) Minister Grace Fu has been the latest figure in the general election period to earn massive backlash online after she subverted the “give chicken wing, take back whole chicken” colloquialism during a recent rally speech.
The phrase is widely used across Singapore to express frustration over how the government may appear to give little to taxpayers, only to take a lot more in other forms. In recent years, the phrase has been used to describe how Singaporeans receive one-off cash payouts and supermarket vouchers, only for them to have to pay higher tax, with the goods and services tax (GST) hike.
Ms Fu has come under fire for taking the phrase and giving it her own spin to make the ruling party appear in a better light.
Speaking at a PAP rally for Jurong Central Single Member Constituency (SMC), the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment said, “Decisions like GST are never easy. We know the pain on the low- and no-income people. And this is why it came with a permanent system, a permanent support system—not one-time, not transitional, as the opposition would tell you.”
Asserting that the GST vouchers include $850 in cash payouts, $450 in Medisave top-ups, $380 in U-Save rebates, and Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates all help offset the 2% GST hike, she argued that GST “allows us to tax tourists and those who do not pay income tax in Singapore but spend on items like cars and watches.”
She then said, “We may be taking a chicken wing from you, but we are giving you a whole chicken.”
Comments across social media, online forums, and messaging platforms have been negative. Some voters suggested that the ruling party politician should not have even legitimized the “chicken” colloquialism in her speech.
Others also took issue with the content of her analogy, arguing that her example actually shows the opposite: that the Government seems to be offering a chicken wing in exchange for the whole chicken.
A number of netizens also felt that the Minister’s comments came across as tone-deaf. Some netizens pointed out that the support measures are offered once every few months and apply to each household, but the GST increase is charged on every transaction and applies to every individual.
Some also added that the GST hike has caused prices to rise more dramatically than 2 per cent, with some businesses raising prices higher than the tax increase.
One netizen said, in a particularly impactful comment, “I don’t feel proud living in a first-world country but needing handouts to survive.”
Some netizens also took issue with Ms Fu’s claim that the GST hike would allow Singapore to charge higher taxes on tourists. Pointing out that it is citizens and residents who will have to live with a tax like the GST day in and day out, not tourists who fly here for short trips, some critics pointed out that much of the GST that tourists are charged also gets refunded.
Under Singapore’s Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS), tourists are required to pay non-refundable GST on food, drinks, and accommodation, but can get refunds on high-value items like luxury bags and watches as long as the goods are purchased from participating retailers and are brought out of Singapore through Changi Airport or Seletar Airport.