In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said about the goods and services tax: "Not raising the GST would be a politically expedient move. However, it would be irresponsible."

As Singapore's population ages, healthcare spending will go up. We will need to build healthcare facilities to cater to our seniors.

We cannot continue to depend on our reserves and the investment return from them. If we keep eating into our reserves, we will be in a very dangerous position should the next crisis hit.

We should be proud of how our Government has managed our finances well, and was able to make moves to strengthen the Singdollar to reduce the impact of inflation.

We are very lucky that our Government is not delaying the GST hike to after the next election in a bid to win more votes, but is insistent on doing the right thing to ensure our country's sustainability and stability.

Sim Lim Onn