Yesterday, after the official news dropped about the GST Voucher (GSTV) – Cash payouts for August 2026, our Telegram group chat suddenly went absolutely wild. Notification pinging non-stop. I open it up expecting some high-quality meme or some standard office gossip. No leh. It is a giant, uncropped screenshot from Gary showing his eligible payout hub.
And his caption?
“Haha losers, gahmen give me maximum S$850! You all got nothing right? Sucks to be you guys, work so hard for what, Lawrence Wong loves me more.”
Bro. I sat there staring at my phone, completely stunned. I didn’t know whether to laugh until my stomach pain or genuinely start a GoFundMe for him. Like, hello? Do people not understand how the Ministry of Finance calculates these things? This is not a lucky draw or a merit award for being a model Singaporean.
To get the full S$850, your Assessable Income for the Year of Assessment cannot cross S$39,000, and your residence’s Annual Value must be within the lowest tier. Gary is quite literally broadcasting to the entire group chat—which includes our ex-classmates and people he actively tries to impress—that his monthly income is legally hovering at the baseline. He is high-key flexing being low-income!
The best part is, he keeps doing this every single year. Whether it’s cost-of-living special payouts, U-Save rebates, or GSTV, the moment he qualifies for the maximum tier, he will parade it around like he just got promoted to Managing Director. He genuinely thinks the government is giving him a bonus. He laughed straight to my face because I got a grand total of S$0. He even said, “Thanks for paying your high taxes to fund my lifestyle ah bro.”
I could not tahan the brain damage anymore, so I just replied in the chat:
“Bro, I got S$0 because the gahmen thinks I can survive. You got S$850 because the gahmen thinks you need urgent help. We are not the same.”
I also pointed out that I’d rather lose out on the S$850 and actually be able to afford the standard of living in 2026 without counting my pennies every time I order fish at the caifan stall. Instant silence in the chat. I think he finally went to Google the eligibility criteria and realized he completely self-pawned.
Is this a new Singaporean trend? Last time people flex luxury cars and Rolex, now people flex being officially verified by the state as broke. Truly the weirdest flex of the year.
TL;DR: Friend bragged about getting the max S$850 GST Voucher and mocked me for getting $0. Had to gently remind him that the government only gives you that much money when they think you are struggling to buy groceries.