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12-11-2013, 11:40 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
If you had taken a look at charts from CPF recently, you would have been frightened.
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cpf.jpg
CPF tells us that 17% of Singaporeans are earning less than $1,000
Now take a moment and soak in that number: 17% of 3m Singaporeans is a staggering 510k individuals earning less than $1000. (*See below for an appended remarks on this statement*)
This would mean that nearly a fifth of our population are low-wage earners. Common sense would tell you this is far from the truth.
These statistics are derived from CPF contributions. Why do some people chose to contribute so little to CPF? Here are a few common reasons:
To build credit history with minimum contributions,
To take home more salary,
To create more headcount to hire more foreigners (we won’t go into detail how this is done, just know that it is common practice),
Small business owners/ freelancers who want more control of their money
So, getting your statistics from CPF contributions is inaccurate.
A better gauge would be through the Department of Statistics.
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1468769_254507924697769_1568394894_n.png
105,000 families earn an average of $1500 per month.
According to FB page “Singaporeans Against Poverty”, they have decided that $1500 is the threshold of poverty for Singaporeans. We will not argue with the premise of that number, but rather, would like to look at how the country has helped workers of this demographic – the vulnerable workers.
At the heart of all low-wage work being done, the most basic is that of the Progressive Wage Model.
It is a myth that Singapore is against the minimum wage. The Progressive Wage Model (or PWM) is a piece of policy that directly contradicts this accusation. At the heart of it, PWM wants employers to not just pay a good base salary, but also to incorporate a career/wage progression ladder to ensure that low-wage workers do not stay low-wage workers for the rest of their lives.
And in the recommendation of base wages, the PWM does not demand salaries that are too far fetched from reality. The following is a table that compares PWM and MOM Median wages.
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/table.jpg
(Progressive Wage recommends paying MORE THAN the market median norms)
The purpose of this base recommendation/requirement is really to target villainous employers who are out to exploit the vulnerable workers.
Then there are programs such as WorkFare. Depending on your age/income/property configurations, if you earn up to $1900, you could be entitled for up to $1400 of assistance.
There is also ComCare assistance and just today, I have read that Government will fund fare concessions for lower income commuters.
All this excludes the vast amount of training, training grants, industrial grants and a myriad of other initiatives designed at improving the value and worth of a worker. To do all these require industry, economics and good employers to be in Singapore.
PM Lee had famously said “…if I can get another 10 billionaires to move to Singapore and set up their base here, my Gini coefficient will get worse but I think Singaporeans will be better off, because they will bring in business, bring in opportunities, open new doors and create new jobs, and I think that is the attitude with which we must approach this problem.” (PM: Getting politics right critical for S (http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/pm-getting-politics-right-critical-spore))
Is that too harsh a thing to say?
Perhaps, but let us compare with this famous rebuttal from Margaret Tatcher in reply to the Opposition’s criticisms on income inequality: “…They’d (the opposition) rather the poor be poorer provided the rich are less rich”
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MT.jpg
(“…They’d rather the poor be poorer provided the rich are less rich”)
Source: Five Stars and a Moon
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?168131-The-TRUTH-behind-WAGES-in-Singapore!&goto=newpost).
If you had taken a look at charts from CPF recently, you would have been frightened.
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/cpf.jpg
CPF tells us that 17% of Singaporeans are earning less than $1,000
Now take a moment and soak in that number: 17% of 3m Singaporeans is a staggering 510k individuals earning less than $1000. (*See below for an appended remarks on this statement*)
This would mean that nearly a fifth of our population are low-wage earners. Common sense would tell you this is far from the truth.
These statistics are derived from CPF contributions. Why do some people chose to contribute so little to CPF? Here are a few common reasons:
To build credit history with minimum contributions,
To take home more salary,
To create more headcount to hire more foreigners (we won’t go into detail how this is done, just know that it is common practice),
Small business owners/ freelancers who want more control of their money
So, getting your statistics from CPF contributions is inaccurate.
A better gauge would be through the Department of Statistics.
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/1468769_254507924697769_1568394894_n.png
105,000 families earn an average of $1500 per month.
According to FB page “Singaporeans Against Poverty”, they have decided that $1500 is the threshold of poverty for Singaporeans. We will not argue with the premise of that number, but rather, would like to look at how the country has helped workers of this demographic – the vulnerable workers.
At the heart of all low-wage work being done, the most basic is that of the Progressive Wage Model.
It is a myth that Singapore is against the minimum wage. The Progressive Wage Model (or PWM) is a piece of policy that directly contradicts this accusation. At the heart of it, PWM wants employers to not just pay a good base salary, but also to incorporate a career/wage progression ladder to ensure that low-wage workers do not stay low-wage workers for the rest of their lives.
And in the recommendation of base wages, the PWM does not demand salaries that are too far fetched from reality. The following is a table that compares PWM and MOM Median wages.
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/table.jpg
(Progressive Wage recommends paying MORE THAN the market median norms)
The purpose of this base recommendation/requirement is really to target villainous employers who are out to exploit the vulnerable workers.
Then there are programs such as WorkFare. Depending on your age/income/property configurations, if you earn up to $1900, you could be entitled for up to $1400 of assistance.
There is also ComCare assistance and just today, I have read that Government will fund fare concessions for lower income commuters.
All this excludes the vast amount of training, training grants, industrial grants and a myriad of other initiatives designed at improving the value and worth of a worker. To do all these require industry, economics and good employers to be in Singapore.
PM Lee had famously said “…if I can get another 10 billionaires to move to Singapore and set up their base here, my Gini coefficient will get worse but I think Singaporeans will be better off, because they will bring in business, bring in opportunities, open new doors and create new jobs, and I think that is the attitude with which we must approach this problem.” (PM: Getting politics right critical for S (http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/pm-getting-politics-right-critical-spore))
Is that too harsh a thing to say?
Perhaps, but let us compare with this famous rebuttal from Margaret Tatcher in reply to the Opposition’s criticisms on income inequality: “…They’d (the opposition) rather the poor be poorer provided the rich are less rich”
http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/MT.jpg
(“…They’d rather the poor be poorer provided the rich are less rich”)
Source: Five Stars and a Moon
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?168131-The-TRUTH-behind-WAGES-in-Singapore!&goto=newpost).