Singaporeans are most concerned about how the Government can support them in planning for the future, according to the results of a six-week pre-Budget feedback exercise.

The results were published yesterday by government feedback arm Reach, a department under the Ministry of Communications and Information that aims to connect and engage citizens with the Government.

The exercise, which ran from Dec 4 to Jan 12, got participants to share ways they think the Government can support them.

Most of them expressed support for more to be done to help them deepen and broaden their skills. This can be achieved through greater employer support for skills upgrading and increasing awareness that employers need to recognise the value of training their employees.

Many Singaporeans also called for career planning and financial literacy programmes to be incorporated into the school curriculum.

At the same time, they advocated more assistance for the elderly and more incentives to encourage family support, to cope with escalating healthcare costs.

A number of Singaporeans urged the Government to consider other methods of generating revenue before considering a tax increase. If a tax increase is unavoidable, they would like to see more assistance for low-and middle-income families.

Reach chairman Sam Tan, who is also Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, and for Foreign Affairs and Manpower, said he was heartened to see a strong turnout and would share the feedback with his colleagues in the Ministry of Finance.

"This is a good sign as it shows that Singaporeans care for our country and want to play a part in shaping government policies," he added.