As early as 2015, there was an internal paper that suggested raising GST stepwise to an eventual 12%. Every time the electorate gives the PAP a 70% mandate, you can be sure we'll move faster towards that target.
Any idiot knows that raising a broad-based regressive tax such as GST burdens the lower-income groups disproportionately as basic necessities form a larger part of their monthly budget. Economists didn't coin the phrase 'regressive tax' for nothing.
Just spoke to a few ah peks and ah sohs at the kopitiam today and they all said the same thing: 'Everything so expensive already, how to afford GST increase?' I'm sure these folks didn't have any formal education in high school economics.
Raising GST to help the poor is not just oxymoronic, it's an outright fib.