By Leong Sze Hian
I refer to the articles “Do S’porean workers deserve their wages?” (Sunday Times, Jun 30), “Raising low wage workers’ pay an uphill task” and S’pore debt levels ‘among highest in Asia’” (Straits Times, Jul 3)..
Do Singaporeans deserve their pay?
The first article states that “Do Singaporeans deserve the salaries they are paid?
That was the pointed question posed by a reader responding to a piece I wrote on how median wages had stagnated in recent years despite a growing economy (The Sunday Times, June 16).
He didn’t think it was surprising because, to put it bluntly, that’s what they deserve.
This was how he put it, which I’m quoting extensively because his perspective is worth airing even if it’s painful to hear:
Comparing income across countries?
“Singapore’s median income of $3,000 per month is fairly high if converted to local currencies of neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, India and China. Does the average Singaporean worker deserve this premium?
Comparing worker attributes across countries?
“Is he/she really more analytical, creative, articulate and productive than our Asian counterparts let alone those in the developed countries of Switzerland and Germany?
“My experience and that of many of my friends and colleagues who have tried recruiting Singaporeans in this income bracket does not bear this out.
“For a start, many local graduates… have a hard time conversing in good English… Because of this, they generally tend to be poor communicators and lack the confidence to interact in group situations.
“The other weak area is reasoning and critical thinking skills… Many Singaporeans looked great on paper but had great difficulty with case interviews where one needs to think on one’s feet.
“The problem is further exacerbated by every local’s dream to work in an office job in a nice central location. So, unlike in Australia or the US where people try to pursue their passion and maximise their inherent skills be it as a teacher, welder or nurse, here even someone who has trouble stringing together two sentences sees himself as a marketing manager in a multinational corporation (MNC).”
Deserve highest paid Govt?
Does our Government deserve to be the highest paid in the world?
A Minister of State’s pay has increased by about 45 times over the last 40 years or so, compared to only about 10 times for a Division IV civil servant and 9 times for a Division I civil servant?
Is there any country in the world where a Minister’s (MR4) pay a day, at as much as $3,993 is more than 3 times that of junior civil servants’ monthly pay?
(“Ministers’ pay increased 45 times?“, Jun 12)
Damn lousy performance?
Does our Government deserve to be paid the highest wages in the world when our world class first world Government has gotten us into our current quagmire of negative real wage growth in 4 out of the last 5 years, low 1.3 per cent growth last year (our Asean neighbours like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines all had over 5 % growth), negative – 0.4 per cent per annum productivity in the last 5 years, high inflation at 4.6 per cent last year and record household debt – total consumer loans of Domestic Banking Units – stood at 279 per cent of the total gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year.
As if to add insult to injury – we get the above “horrible” performance and outcomes – a quagmire despite the 2 controversial casinos (IRs) and the relentless huge influx of foreign workers vide very liberal foreign labour policies and immigration in the last few years.
(“Best Straits Times Editorial ever in its history?“, Jun 16)
Flawed self-contradictory arguments?
The long list of arguments to support the notion that Singaporeans do not deserve their wages, may be the greatest self-contradiction and clearest damnation of our liberal foreign labour policies – because it is precisely due to the average Singaporean worker’s inability to compete with more educated, more skilled, more experienced and younger foreign workers willing to work for much lower wages and longer hours, that an increasing number of Singaporeans are underpaid, under-employed or unemployed.
Right to decent pay & standard of living?
To cite a long list of arguments against the worth of Singaporean workers, without any mention of articles 27 (1) and 28 of the ASEAN HUMAN RIGHTS DECLARATION
27. (1) Every person has the right to work, to the free choice of employment, to enjoy just, decent and favourable conditions of work and to have access to assistance schemes for the unemployed.
28. Every person has the right to an adequate standard of living for himself or herself and his or her family including:
a. The right to adequate and affordable food, freedom from hunger and access to safe and nutritious food;
b. The right to clothing;
c. The right to adequate and affordable housing;
d. The right to medical care and necessary social services;
– may be indicative of the most obvious flaw of the fundamental argument that wages across countries can be compared (relative to the worth of the worker) without taking into account the wide differences in the standards and cost of living.
Still more foreign workers, new citizens, PRs?
For our policy makers to continue to argue for the continuing influx of foreign workers, 25,000 new citizens and 30,000 PRs annually (6.9 million popultion white paper), may be indicative of “a distorted illogical heartless mindset” that if I may say again – supports the notion that Government does not deserve to be the highest paid in the world.
Do cleaners deserve their pay?
Do the 69,000 local cleaners deserve their “slave” median wage of only over $815?
Do the 7 out of 10 low-wage workers deserve not getting the $50 pay increase recommended by the NWC last year, for workers earning less than $1,000?
Do the 114,000 full-time local workers deserve their less than $1,000 pay?
(“Who is ultimately responsible for cleaners’ slave wages? Never ever accountable?“, Jun 28)
0.85 % real income growth last decade?
Do Singaporeans deserve the real growth in their Median Gross Monthly Income From Work of Full-Time Employed per annum from 2002 to 2012 of only about 0.85 per cent (estimate)?
