The PAP’s slogan for the last general election is ‘Staying
together, Moving ahead’. More than four years later, has it
fulfilled its electoral pledges to Singaporeans?
In his New Year day message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
proclaimed to Singaporeans that the Singapore economy has grown by
14.7 percent last year, but have ordinary Singaporeans benefitted
from the stellar growth?
Let us now examine and compare three key economic indices of
Singapore which are often ignored by PAP leaders in 2006 and 2010
based on the authoritative study ‘Price and Earnings’, done by
international bank UBS which can be downloaded
here.
1. Wage levels:
In 2006, Singapore has a wage index (net) of 38.9 which is
higher than Hong Kong (34.9). It declined to only 35.0 in 2010
while Hong Kong has surpassed us at 43.9.
Despite the robust growth of the Singapore economy, the real
wages of Singaporeans after accounting for inflation have actually
declined.
The UBS findings commensurate with that of the Manpower Ministry
which showed a gradual decline in the average monthly wages of
Singaporeans in 2010 while median monthly wages remained stagnant
at $2,500, not too far off from 10 years ago.
2. Domestic purchasing power:
This is a more accurate indicator of the ‘wealth’ of citizens as
it also measures our disposable income. Many Singaporeans are
‘asset rich’ because of their HDB flats, but are ‘cash poor’ after
spending the bulk of their salaries on housing loans and other
living essentials, thereby leaving little spare cash in their
hands.
In 2006, Singapore has a domestic purchasing power of 50.8 (by
hourly income) which is less than half of Zurich (115.6). It
decreased to a mere 38.8 in 2010 while Zurich’ remained stable at
110.
Though Singapore is purportedly a First World nation, the low
domestic purchasing power of Singaporeans put it along the likes of
Doha (Qatar), Warsaw (Poland) and Bratislava (Slovakia), far below
the other first world cities in Asia such as Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei
and Hong Kong.
To add insult to the injury, Malaysians living in Kuala Lumpur
have higher domestic purchasing power than Singaporeans in both
years though our diplomats had decried them as being governed by
‘incompetent’ politicians!
3. Cost of living:
While the wages and domestic purchasing power of Singaporeans
have declined under PAP rule in the last four years, the cost of
living has sky-rocketed.
In 2006, Singapore is ranked the 32th most expensive city in the
world after Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo in Asia. Its ranking shot up
to 11th in 2010 and Singapore is now the second most expensive city
in Asia after Tokyo.
The result is hardly surprising given the annual inflation rate
of 5 percent or more and the shocking increase in prices of resale
HDB flats by more than 50 percent since 2007.
Conclusion
In the last four years, Singaporeans are earning less and have
less disposable income while the cost of living has continued to
rise relentlessly. Is life getting better under PAP rule? Have they
managed the economy well? Do the PAP ministers deserve their out of
the world salaries?
You may ask: how is it possible to have such impressive GDP
growth figures and yet Singaporeans are not earning more and having
higher domestic purchasing power? Why do other countries have lower
growth than Singapore and their citizens have higher wages and
spending power?
There is no secret to Singapore’s GDP growth. In fact, it is
brainless. Singapore’s GDP growth in the last few years
is fueled largely by the open-door immigration policies
of the PAP regime which has allowed a rapid influx of foreigners
into Singapore within a short period of time leading
directly to a burst in economic activity, e.g. demand for
services, thereby translating directly to higher GDP figures as GDP
is merely a measure of the total economic output of a country.
Furthermore, the easy inflow of cheap foreign workers has
depressed the wages of Singapore workers while contributing to the
higher cost of living, especially housing given the small size of
the island.
If other First World countries adopt the PAP’s immigration
policies and open their doors to foreigners, they will surely have
higher GDP figures than Singapore! However they cannot do so
because their people will take to the streets and protest, but not
in Singapore where the PAP regime enjoys absolute power and is able
to do anything as it pleases without fear of any political
repercussions.
Judging from PM Lee’s New Year day message, it is pretty obvious
that the PAP has run out of ideas to take Singapore forward because
of its perennial obsession with ‘GDP’.
Singapore cannot depend on cheap foreign
workers indefinitely to boost its GDP growth artificially. We
can never compete in terms of cost with our neighbors and it’s only
a matter of time before their cheap workforce become more educated,
well-trained and attractive to foreign investors after which we
will lose our competitive edge.
We have to nurture our own local talents and develop our
moribund SME sector so that we can become a net exporter of
technology, products and services like South Korea which is now the
7th largest exporter in the world.
Unfortunately, creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation
cannot be taught in schools. They can only survive and thrive in an
environment that foster independent thinking which is severely
lacking under our repressive political system. When you are not
even allowed to question, challenge and criticize, can you be
creative?
Will the PAP sacrifice its own partisan interests for the
greater good of the nation?
One thing for sure, it has definitely fulfilled its election
pledge of 2006 in a way: – The PAP ministers, MPs and their top
civil servants have moved far ahead with their obscene wages,
leaving the rest of us together behind to be plagued by low wages,
low spending power and high cost of living.
.
Alan Au
Source: Temasek Review
