Several MPs yesterday decried what they felt was a constant barrage of 'doom and gloom' from the media as - for the second consecutive day - they pushed for measures to fire up local spending.

The key difference from the day before was the emphasis on psychological measures instead of fiscal ones.

Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) was the first to bring it up when he told the story of one of his grassroots leaders who runs his own business.

Though the business is not badly affected by the downturn, the man still felt the need to curb spending.

Said Mr Palmer: 'He tells me that every time he reads the newspapers or listens to the news, he feels the need to stop spending and to cut costs, notwithstanding that his business is still flourishing.'

And while Mr Palmer stressed he is not advocating that dire economic news be sugar-coated, he said: 'Nevertheless, all this bad news has a psychological effect on the consumer and discourages spending.'

The sentiment was later repeated by Nominated MP Loo Choon Yong, who said Singaporeans need to develop 'psychological resilience'.

'With all the news media broadcasting doom and gloom stories daily, it is understandable that workers (who are older or are) sole breadwinners are worried and their spirits are down,' he said.

MPs yesterday approached the bid to boost demand as a 'battle of the mind'.

Both Mr Palmer and Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC) suggested variants of the Great Singapore Sale as a tool to entice buying.

Mr Baey labelled his a 'Great Singapore Resilience Sale', as he called for discounts on everything from hawker food to tickets for attractions such as the zoo. He also suggested a temporary cut to TV licence fees and Electronic Road Pricing.

'We can still stand by policies to regulate traffic volumes but during these trying times, the Government can send a strong signal that such a stimulus will encourage spending.'

Mr Baey stopped short, however, of calling for shopping vouchers, the tool used by the Taiwanese government to try to entice people to spend.

He said Singaporeans should realise that handouts like goods and services tax (GST) credits, housing grants and various rebates are also windfalls like the vouchers, but are targeted more at the low-income.

'I hope people will...put the extra cash to good use, whether to tide over a difficult patch, save for a rainy day, or churn it through the local economy,' he added.

Psychology aside, there was no shortage of suggestions of fiscal measures.

Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) called for a waiver of income tax on income earned last year, subject to a minimum liability.

She also called for a quadrupling of GST credits, or failing that, slashing the GST rate to 3.5 per cent.

Two other MPs - Mr Palmer and Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim - joined the chorus calling for a GST cut. Ms Lim pointed out that the 2 percentage point hike in 2007 had a significant impact on the cost of living, pushing up the Consumer Price Index by 1.5 per cent.

All argued that targeted GST credits alone could not stimulate consumer spending the way a tax cut would.

Said Mr Palmer: 'While GST credits will help families, particularly lower-income families, to cope with likely reductions in earnings this year, I do not believe that it will do much to stimulate spending.

'A large proportion of GST credits will go to lower-income families. It is likely that they will spend this on essential items. Those with higher incomes may or may not spend the amount.'

He proposed rolling back the 2 percentage point GST hike and even removing altogether the tax for a basket of essential goods.

Summing up, he said: 'We should take our own steps to drive up demand and initiate our own road to recovery. Even though local demand may be small compared to our export sales, I feel that we must begin our own healing process.'

jeremyau@sph.com.sg