DPM Heng shares yearly pre-Budget tradition of eating porridge with Finance Ministry colleagues

The Budget Statement will be delivered later today, Feb. 18., by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat.

Budget 2020 to include measures against Covid-19 economic impacts

Budget 2020 is likely to detail measures to help Singaporeans to cope with the economic impact of Covid-19 outbreak which was "not on the table one month ago".As such, Heng revealed in a Facebook post that the officers at the Finance Ministry have also been spending extra hours, working through the night with him to come up with updated and targeted support measures in view of the new development.

"The Ministry of Finance (Singapore) team has been putting in extra hours to track the fast-evolving situation, listening to Singaporeans’ suggestions, and coming up with targeted support measures. We have many young officers at MOF, and I had really hoped that they could have a nice Valentine’s Day with their loved ones last Friday. Instead, they asked for understanding from their partners, and worked with me through the night and over the weekend."

Dedicates a post to MOF's 'Porridge Auntie'

It's not just the MOF team that's working hard on Budget 2020.

Heng also wrote a post to thank one "Porridge Auntie" who stayed back with the staff to ensure they were not working with empty stomachs.

Heng explained that dinner was usually catered for staff in the lead-up to the Budget, as the team would be working "late into the night", ahead of the big day. However, dinner on the day before the Budget Statement would be when staffers from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) observed a long-standing tradition, involving a hot bowl of comforting porridge.

Heng's post included a photo of a bowl of that porridge, topped with youtiao, egg, century egg, fishcake, and garnished with shallots and Chinese parsley.

Image from Heng Swee Keat's Facebook page

Describing it as "a treat and comfort food", Heng called it "the equivalent of MOF’s annual ‘reunion dinner’".

Heng shared that the "tasty and nutritious pre-Budget porridge" was prepared by a long-serving member of MOF's staff known as Auntie Mei Jok, who cooked the porridge as a "labour of love" which had "[nourished] the spirits and stomachs of countless MOF colleagues".

Heng also credited "many colleagues including Flora, Lillian, and Geok Lian", who helped with the preparations.

According to Heng, the pre-Budget porridge meal has been a yearly tradition that was observed even before MOF moved to The Treasury building at High Street in 1997.

Reactions from Facebook users

This is possibly one of the most well-received posts by Heng so far.

Heng's post not only drew over 4,000 reactions, comments, and shares, but also whetted many Facebook users' appetites:

Some drew a parallel between the pre-Budget meal and the Budget itself:

("有粥吃粥, 有饭吃饭" is a colloquial saying literally translated to "when there's porridge, eat porridge, and when there's rice, eat rice", implying that one should be contented with whatever life brings them.)

Facebook users also echoed Heng's thanks to Auntie Mei Jok and her colleagues for their previously unseen work behind the scenes.

You can see the post here:

Budget 2020

There will be live television and radio coverage of the Budget Statement.

In addition, a live webcast of the delivery will be available on the Singapore Budget website.

For real-time updates, you can follow MOF’s Facebook page and Twitter account. The full Budget Statement will be published on the Singapore Budget website after delivery.

Top image from Heng Swee Keat's Facebook page