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Create “Economic Recovery” jobs

Singapore should aim to curb unemployment with the Jobs Credit Scheme. Tan Kin Lian.

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15 years ago

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Tan Kin Lian / Columnist

Just pumping funds into the economy will not do. It is also important to curb unemployment, and Singapore can do this by creating new “Economic Recovery” jobs.

Being an open economy, Singapore has been badly affected by the global recession with a severe contraction of the economy in 2009. Many people have lost their jobs.

There is an urgent need to create new “economic recovery” jobs for these displaced workers and new job seekers.

Examples of these jobs are teaching assistants in schools, health care assistants in hospitals, carers to look after children, elderly, disabled and the sick, customer service assistants in train stations, bus terminus, town centers and neighborhoods.

These assistants can reduce the stress from employed people who now have to spend work longer hours to keep their jobs.

I hope that the money that is set aside in the Jobs Credit Scheme can be used to create these “economic recovery” jobs to improve short term employment to large numbers of people and tide them over until the recovery of the global economy.

Availability and Security of Employment

There is now widespread recognition that the key to recovery is the availability, security and fair terms of employment. If people feel secure about their employment, they can continue to spend according to their capacity.

This will create a stable economy that works efficiently and creates the right balance of work and leisure that can give a satisfactory standard of life for the people.

It was once thought that the free market was the best mechanism to ensure that the right goods and services are produced and to give employment to people according to their skills. The global recession has shown the weakness of the free market.

Being largely unregulated, it has attracted large numbers of talented people to work in financial services that was creating false wealth. This system has now largely collapsed.

The free market is now not able to generate the new demand that will create employment for the large number of displaced workers and new entrants to the job market.

To solve this problem, we need a new source of employment, which can only be provided through the public sector. The state has to create new “economic recovery” jobs in the public sector and to build infrastructure.

President Barack Obama recognizes this role for the state. His administration is giving top priority to make this happen quickly. He is employing more teachers, more people to maintain state facilities and similar jobs.

Some people will argue that these public sector jobs may not be the best use of the human resources that can be better utilized in the private sector. This may be true in a few years time, when the economy has returned to good health.

Fair Terms of Employment

A good approach is to make these “economic recovery” jobs pay a minimum wage (and not a generous wage) and be for a term of two or three years only. When the economy is able to generate better paying jobs, the workers can abandon these “economic recovery” jobs and move to the private sector jobs.

The key is to make jobs available to anyone who is willing to work at a minimum wage or higher.

In a weak job market, workers can be exploited with low wages, even by companies that are operating profitably. Unemployed workers will be willing to get a job at any wage. The wages of the existing employed workers will also come under pressure.

If the workers do not get adequate wages, they will reduce their spending, causing delay in the recovery of the economy.

Therefore it is important to ensure that all jobs should give a minimum wage. If there is a supply of “economic recovery” jobs at this minimum age, it will set a floor on the wages in the free market. This will give the confidence to workers to have optimism in the future.

Stimulus spending not enough

In normal times, the free market works well in matching supply and demand and provides choices for people to find suitable jobs and to spend their income on products that best serve their needs.

A major shock, such as the global financial crisis, can cause many people to lose their jobs with a severe impact on the economy. Unemployed people have to curtail their spending. This caused other people to lose their jobs due to reduced demand. Even the supply of credit gets disrupted as bankers become more careful.

The economic experts did not foresee the severity of the collapse of Lehman Brothers on the global economy. If they knew, they would not have allowed this bank to fail.

Its failure has caused so much damage that it needed several trillions of dollars of stimulus spending in America, China and other countries, to stabilize and restore the global system. Even Singapore added its share of stimulus.

There is still much uncertainty regarding the positive contribution of the stimulus packages on the economy. Unemployment continues to rise. Consumer demand continues to fall, although at a slower pace. Economists are worried that these packages will take a long time to work, and recovery will be a slow and painful process.

Not a Planned Economy

Some people will perceive that I am suggested a centrally planned economy, where economic planners or bureaucrats decide on the number of people to be employed in each occupation and the wages to be paid for each occupation.

I am not advocating such a system.

I am suggesting that state should ensure that jobs will always be available at the minimum wage level to any person who is willing to work on these terms for a temporary period. This will provide competition to the private sector to produce goods and services of better value to consumers and be able to pay higher wages.

This will help to make the market economy work more efficiently by reducing exploitation and wastefulness, and giving workers the confidence to consumer according to their stable level of income.

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TJC issued 3rd POFMA order under Minister K Shanmugam for alleged falsehoods

The Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) was issued its third POFMA correction order on 5 October 2024 under the direction of Minister K Shanmugam for alleged falsehoods about death penalty processes. TJC has rejected the government’s claims, describing POFMA as a tool to suppress dissent.

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2 days ago

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6 October 2024

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The Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), an advocacy group opposed to the death penalty, was issued its third Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) correction direction on 5 October 2024.

The correction was ordered by Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmugam, following TJC’s publication of what the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) alleges to be false information regarding Singapore’s death row procedures and the prosecution of drug trafficking cases.

These statements were made on TJC’s website and across its social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).

In addition to TJC, civil activist Kokila Annamalai was also issued a correction direction by the minister over posts she made on Facebook and X between 4 and 5 October 2024.

According to MHA, these posts echoed similar views on the death penalty and the legal procedures for drug-related offences, and contained statements that the ministry claims are false concerning the treatment of death row prisoners and the state’s legal responsibilities in drug trafficking cases.

MHA stated that the posts suggested the government schedules and stays executions arbitrarily, without due regard to legal processes, and that the state does not bear the burden of proving drug trafficking charges.

However, these alleged falsehoods are contested by MHA, which maintains that the government strictly follows legal procedures, scheduling executions only after all legal avenues have been exhausted, and that the state always carries the burden of proof in such cases.

In its official release, MHA emphasised, “The prosecution always bears the legal burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and this applies to all criminal offences, including drug trafficking.”

It also pointed to an article on the government fact-checking site Factually to provide further clarification on the issues raised.

As a result of these allegations, both TJC and Annamalai are now required to post correction notices. TJC must display these corrections on its website and social media platforms, while Annamalai is required to carry similar notices on her Facebook and X posts.

TikTok has also been issued a targeted correction direction, requiring the platform to communicate the correction to all Singapore-based users who viewed the related TJC post.

In a statement following the issuance of the correction direction, TJC strongly rejected the government’s claims. The group criticised the POFMA law, calling it a “political weapon used to crush dissent,” and argued that the order was more about the exercise of state power than the pursuit of truth. “We have put up the Correction Directions not because we accept any of what the government asserts, but because of the grossly unjust terms of the POFMA law,” TJC stated.

TJC further argued that the government’s control over Singapore’s media landscape enables it to push pro-death penalty views without opposition. The group also stated that it would not engage in prolonged legal battles over the POFMA correction orders, opting to focus on its abolitionist work instead.

This marks the third time TJC has been subject to a POFMA correction direction in recent months.

The group was previously issued two orders in August 2024 for making similar statements concerning death row prisoners.

In its latest statement, MHA noted that despite being corrected previously, TJC had repeated what the ministry views as falsehoods.

MHA also criticised TJC for presenting the perspective of a convicted drug trafficker without acknowledging the harm caused to victims of drug abuse.

Annamalai, a prominent civil rights activist, is also known for her involvement in various social justice campaigns. She was charged in June 2024 for her participation in a pro-Palestinian procession near the Istana. Her posts, now subject to correction, contained information similar to those presented by TJC regarding death penalty procedures and drug-related cases.

POFMA, which was introduced in 2019, allows the government to issue correction directions when it deems falsehoods are being spread online.

Critics of the law argue that it can be used to suppress dissent, while the government asserts that it is a necessary tool for combating misinformation. The law has been frequently invoked against opposition politicians and activists.

As of October 2024, Minister K Shanmugam has issued 17 POFMA directions, more than any other minister. Shanmugam, who was instrumental in introducing POFMA, is followed by National Development Minister Desmond Lee, who has issued 10 POFMA directions.

Major media outlets, including The Straits Times, Channel News Asia, and Mothership, have covered the POFMA directions. However, as of the time of writing, none have included TJC’s response rejecting the government’s allegations.

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Hotel Properties Limited suspends trading ahead of Ong Beng Seng’s court hearing

Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), co-founded by Mr Ong Beng Seng, has halted trading ahead of his court appearance today (4 October). The announcement was made by HPL’s company secretary at about 7.45am, citing a pending release of an announcement. Mr Ong faces one charge of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts and another charge of obstruction of justice. He is due in court at 2.30pm.

Published

4 days ago

on

4 October 2024

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SINGAPORE: Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), the property and hotel developer co-founded by Mr Ong Beng Seng, has requested a trading halt ahead of the Singapore tycoon’s scheduled court appearance today (4 October) afternoon.

This announcement was made by HPL’s company secretary at approximately 7.45am, stating that the halt was due to a pending release of an announcement.

Mr Ong, who serves as HPL’s managing director and controlling shareholder, faces one charge under Section 165, accused of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts, as well as one charge of obstruction of justice.

He is set to appear in court at 2.30pm on 4 October.

Ong’s charges stem from his involvement in a high-profile corruption case linked to former Singaporean transport minister S Iswaran.

The 80-year-old businessman was named in Iswaran’s initial graft charges earlier this year.

These charges alleged that Iswaran had corruptly received valuable gifts from Ong, including tickets to the 2022 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, flights, and a hotel stay in Doha.

These gifts were allegedly provided to advance Ong’s business interests, particularly in securing contracts with the Singapore Tourism Board for the Singapore GP and the ABBA Voyage virtual concert.

Although Iswaran no longer faces the original corruption charges, the prosecution amended them to lesser charges under Section 165.

Iswaran pleaded guilty on 24 September, 2024, to four counts under this section, which covered over S$400,000 worth of gifts, including flight tickets, sports event access, and luxury items like whisky and wines.

Additionally, he faced one count of obstructing justice for repaying Ong for a Doha-Singapore flight shortly before the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) became involved.

On 3 October, Iswaran was sentenced to one year in jail by presiding judge Justice Vincent Hoong.

The prosecution had sought a sentence of six to seven months for all charges, while the defence had asked for a significantly reduced sentence of no more than eight weeks.

Ong, a Malaysian national based in Singapore, was arrested by CPIB in July 2023 and released on bail shortly thereafter. Although no charges were initially filed against him, Ong’s involvement in the case intensified following Iswaran’s guilty plea.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had earlier indicated that it would soon make a decision regarding Ong’s legal standing, which has now led to the current charges.

According to the statement of facts read during Iswaran’s conviction, Ong’s case came to light as part of a broader investigation into his associates, which revealed Iswaran’s use of Ong’s private jet for a flight from Singapore to Doha in December 2022.

CPIB investigators uncovered the flight manifest and seized the document.

Upon learning that the flight records had been obtained, Ong contacted Iswaran, advising him to arrange for Singapore GP to bill him for the flight.

Iswaran subsequently paid Singapore GP S$5,700 for the Doha-Singapore business class flight in May 2023, forming the basis of his obstruction of justice charge.

Mr Ong is recognised as the figure who brought Formula One to Singapore in 2008, marking the first night race in the sport’s history.

He holds the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix. Iswaran was the chairman of the F1 steering committee and acted as the chief negotiator with Singapore GP on business matters concerning the race.

 

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