YOUNG professionals here would rather Singapore continue to invest more money in quality education and affordable healthcare, ahead of other sectors such as transport and trade and industry.

Still, in a straw poll conducted this week, defence came out tops.

Almost a third of 64 professionals my paper approached - 31 per cent - said they would direct the most funds to theMinistry of Defence if they were the Finance Minister.

They were told to rank 10 ministries - Home Affairs, Education, Transport, Health, Trade and Industry, Defence, Law, Foreign Affairs, Manpower and National Development.

These ministries were chosen as they have traditionally been the higher-ranking ones in the yearly Budget.

Madam Veena Rao, 39, who has two daughters in primary school, is among those who would like the Government to invest in education.

"At this rate of inflation, I'm afraid that what I'm setting aside now may not be enough for my children's tertiary education," said the manager who works in a shipping firm.

She hopes that Singapore could train more competent teachers while keeping education affordable to many.

And surprisingly, transport was only ranked sixth for those polled.

Despite protestations to recent hikes in ERP rates and the introduction of gantries, only 6 per cent felt the Ministry of Transport should get the lion's share of the Budget.

Who gets the least money, then?

In the last place was the Ministry of Law with slightly more than a third - 34 per cent - saying they would channel funds to it. In second last place was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 28 per cent. my paper also asked readers if they were expecting any goodies from the Budget to be announced today.

More than two-thirds of them said they were not hopeful.

Instead they expect the Budget to focus on helping the lower income group.

Bank executive Mr Victor Yong, 28, for instance, hopes there will be more GST rebates to help the poor.

He said: "While some people are going for $1,000 Chinese New Year reunion dinners, others are earning only $200 a month."

Citi economist Dr Chua Hak Bin anticipated that this year's Budget will be a "People's Budget", as opposed to last year's

Budget, which focused on reducing corporate taxes.

However, Mr Leong Sze Hian, president of the Society of Financial Services Professionals, does not think that one-off bonuses are the way to go.

"Previous budgets have targeted the symptoms rather than the root of the problem. Fiscal policy changes need to be made to cope with the increasing prices and consumption taxes," he said.

IT executive Ms Pauline Sng, 40, concurred: "I'm not for goodies as they are only short-term measures. We have to look at the bigger picture."