Khaw Boon Wan, the minister for national development, warned that elections shouldn't be an "auction" between political parties offering the people more spending and lower taxes.
He explained that naturally, everyone wants to get more without having to pay more in taxes, however, going in such a direction is not sustainable and so political parties should not take advantage of this during elections.
Instead, he suggested that it was the responsibility of politicians to be 'honest' with voters.
"If every election is a mere auction between political parties to give as much goodies as they can with as little taxes they need to pay, I think democracy of that manner must lead to insolvency and eventually, political cynicism." he said.
He was speaking at a dialogue session at the joint World Cities Summit, CleanEnviro Summit and the Singapore International Water Week.
During the dialogue, other topics were also brought up such as the financing of infrastructure development.
On this point, Khaw said that Singapore has "no shortage of money" to finance such development.
Another issue which Mr Khaw raised was that Singapore is a small country with a very small domestic market. Therefore it is essential that Singapore remain open and not implement any protectionist measures.