These are some replies to the blogger. Whom my guess is are
working adults.
PAP has 98% seats in Parliament. They thus have the ultimate
liberty to pass or not pass any type of Laws, be it minimum wage,
freedom of assembly, death penalty laws, election laws and what not
laws.
Hong Kong, despite not being a nation and also more laissez faire,
has better democracy and human rights.
People also protest freely, with up to 500,000 taking to the
streets at one time.
Even our own DBS paid a good public compensation to their Hong Kong
clients who lost their money in the structured notes debacle.
However DBS was silent on what was paid to SIngapore clients, as
compared to those paid in Hong Kong. Why?
So can anyone enlighten why Hong Kong is better in these respects
than Singapore, besides Minimum wage Laws?
Are we peasants partly to blame for this state of affairs?
I say peasants becasue they bore the brunt of the PAP policies, not
the elite.
Or are peasants the minority here, so much so that they are
outvoted by the elites at every election?
of course peasants are to be blamed.
you reap what you sow. you vote for blood-suckers, you get
sucked.
vote OUT pap
from what i have observeed, the rich in Singapore are getting
richer but the poor and middle class are stagnating in income.
Had SIN Leaders came close to the performances of the Hong Kong
Legislaters(Cabinet). Me thinks many of the Local Bloggers would
not be doing what they are doing in Cyberspace now.
Probably, many would be vying to be in Parliament to contribute to
Society. Or, they may want to spent their times pursuing
leisures.
Even the blinds know the rich are getting richer and the poor are
poorer in SIN, they may not see but they never failed to hear the
sighings.
Minimun wage could be meaningless if the costs of livings are
raised faster and frequently than a token sum to the present wage.
A vicious cycle had been created, restrict foreigners will cause
great fall in consumptions. Allow foreigners, Singaporeans get
sidelined for jobs and prices of everything goes up. And the
ultimate Archilles Heel, the peasai size of the City.
The Talented Leaders are confident they have all the answers, BUT
unfortunately, the People do not have confidence and trust of their
Leaderships and there are all the signs that they have given up
hopes on them.
patriot
Passing of minimum wage laws is only a wayang. There is no point
in interfering with prices if the underlying supply and demand is
imbalanced. Setting a minimum wage while massively importing
foreigners will only increase unemployment for locals at the
margin.
The proper way forward is to address the supply directly (i.e. stop
massive importing of foreign labor, and allow wages and overall
cost of living to rise).
Clearly our govt is not interested in doing that.
Michael Chan is just a greedy bastard. He has no qualms paying
himself a fat salary every year, but is queasy about paying his
workers a decent wage.
Our PAP leaders show initiative and courage in paying themselves
millions, but think that putting in place a mininum wage for
low-income earners as extravagent or costly for businesses.
Unethical business owners have no qualms changing cars every year,
buying second homes or just throwing their money away at KTV
lounges, but will pinch every penny when it comes to paying their
workers a decent salary.
You bastards go burn in hell!
Profits are NOT hurt by minimum wage laws.
The problem lies with management being grossly overpaid. The top
leaders of industries in most countries are paid salaries and
bonuses at least 30-40 times the annual income of average
workers.
Many workers have problems paying the rent and bills for one home,
but the top elites have 3 homes and 4 cars easily.
Corporate profits will not be hurt by minimum wages, as long as the
increased wage bill is borne by the elites.
For too long, they have enjoyed a fat salary at the expense of
low-income workers, who generally do not have a fair share in
corporate profits.
The PAP would rather give free money to businesses in the form
of job credits than directly to underpaid workers and the
unemployed. Has anyone noticed the number of new luxury cars on the
roads after the job credit scheme was implemented?
Given the overwhelming evidence, if you still think government's
priority is Singaporeans, you must be deluded, living in your own
world.
The difference between HK and Singapore is the political. We
have to look past the labels. Having a a GE every 5 years doesn't
make one a democratic country. Obviously, the HK government
respect's its citizens' rights more. Singapore just views requests
from its citizens as nuisance to be ignored and discouraged. They
view most citizens too stupid for their own good or smart asses
that need to be smacked down and put in their places.
Billionaires in HK have no money to support the minimum wage,
but have money to fly private jets to Singapore to pick up
durians.
Anyone who often reads financial statements of companies knows that
the bulk of company costs goes to salaries - salaries of its top
executives, and not to rank-and-file employees.
I suppose after introducing minimum wage laws, Michael Chan will no
longer be the 35th richest guy in HK. He probably will drop to 45th
richest instead. My heart aches for him. Big loss!
Maybe we ask the wooden Senile Minister (whose wife happen to
think S$600K p.a. salary is just peanuts) whether having a minimum
wage bill is good constructive criticism ?
I just wonder how many coffins does our MM need to buy with that
S$2M+ yearly salary that he gets when he finally kicked the bucket
?
I never understood how economists can shamefully argue that a
minimum wage would lead to inflation and massive loss of profits
and jobs fleeing our land to Vietnam or Indonesia?
Today, I read that a director of an insurance agency can splurge on
holidays and luxuries. On other days, I read of well-heeled
executives who can buy new condos. I read of billionaires who can
send private jets to buy durians.
If rich people can be paid so excessively, then it is clear that
they are earning excessively at the expense of the lower-income
people.
I have friends who head insurance agencies, and they too confess
that they earn that much not because their sales are good, but
because they are creaming off commissions from the sales of their
top agents, who are in turn, paid excessive commissions for selling
financial products.
Your financial products pay you less than 3% return because most of
your money goes to paying the top executives, who earn close to a
million a year.
If not for paying the top people excessive pay, you would be
getting better returns, and poorer people will be getting more
decent salaries.
Lucky,
once a upon a time HK and Spore were under British rule. Noticed
how far HK has progressed since
1997 inspite the fact Communist China is their lord and
master.
Now take a look at S'pore under LKY and his PAP after 50
Years.
One BullShit political system with a father and son at the helm
plus countless stooges/dummies with no independent minds.
These PAP scums are shameless, using tax payers money to ensure
they have Minimum Wages themselves in $million$ !
Dear all,
I agree with some of what you have shared. Please allow me to share
with you a personal experience. This boss told the employees that
business was not so good as last year.
Therefore no bonuses for that year. However unknown to the
employees, this same boss in that same year bought a bentley and a
Rolls Royce. Total cost is at least $1.8 million. The RR was at
least $1 mil and bentley was at least $800k.
I honestly think that that person should have given the bonus but
the company belongs to that person.
In newspaper or tv, you will read about how minimum wage can
increase costs for businesses.
But what do I see with my own eyes? Have the newspaper and tv ever
asked why the whole boss family MUST drive luxury cars??? Even when
the child was in poly, the present was a Ferrari!
Before any rich people cry foul about high costs due to minimum
wage, can they at least cut the cost from their own sky high
salaries???
A gini coefficient of higher than 0.5 can lead to riots on the
street. Do we really want to see this? We must vote correctly to
correct the current imbalance. If not our children will pay a high
price for our cowardice.
Cheers
Economist with a heart
Dear Economist
//
We must vote correctly to correct the current imbalance. If not our
children will pay a high price for our cowardice.
//
Who is "we"?
Lucky is rich!
It does not matter who runs the country.
They want to admit 100,000 more foreigners? China and India's
economic growth are slowing down, European stock market has tanked,
pulling down any hope of US economy recovering with it. SIN is
lucky it made 15% growth this year (of course the rich and the govt
are the one to benefit most from it). Next year won't be so easy
and smooth... we'll be lucky if we grow by 7%, and what happens to
those 100,000 foreigners? Not all will leave right away if they
lose their jobs - they will compete with locals for their jobs.
Siow liao.
BTW, they have passed a law to have a minimum wage, but the
figure hasn't been decided yet. I quote:
Officials said the law will take effect next year, and a
government-appointed task group is expected to propose a minimum
wage level in the coming months.
Anyway, if anyone would consider that HK Legco has done way better
than Singapore, then it is time they read up on all the news
surrounding the recent protests - from the building of the high
speed rail to election reforms. On top of that, the underlying
resentment over the runaway property prices.
The reality of the situation is, most rich or highly paid people
are mobile. If employers in Singapore are not willing to pay them
what they think they deserve, they can move to another country.
Singapore government wants to keep these people so have to give in
to their interests.
Poor or poorly paid people have limited mobility. They are stuck in
Singapore even if doing the same jobs in other First World
countries pay 3 - 4 times what they are getting in Singapore.
Given the circumstances and especially the lack of threat to their
continuing rule, I don't think anything will change. The poor have
no voice, the middle class are either cowed or apathetic and the
rich call the shots. Even in low tax country like Singapore, the
more tax you pay, the more you are heard.
The minimum wage has not been set. In fact it will be decided by
a group of people selected by the non-elected government. Somewhere
between HKD23-HKD33.
Anyway, I think in the UK they have a minimum wage bill but people
are still being paid under that amount.
Minimum wage bill or not, there will be ways to beat the
system~
"no country for poor man" at 19/7/10 08:42 wrote: "Poor or
poorly paid people have limited mobility. "
Not true across the board. Staff nurses are poorly paid, with
starting pay of $1.6K, but they are very mobile. That's why
Singapore keep churning out nurses but still not enough. Because we
don't pay them enough to stay in Singapore.
In that case, good for them. Go where they are appreciated more.
Staying put and hoping the system will change means condeming
oneself and one's children to a bleak future. For those who are
mobile and find life in Singapore unbearable should consider other
countries that give better opportunities. If one is not mobile, one
should at least ensure that one's children get the right skills to
be mobile.
to anon 13.27
Minimum wage bill or not, there will be ways to beat the
system~
well, jail or no jail, people will still commit crimes?!!
having a minimum order means that the govt is serious in looking
after the welfare of people. and so our million dollar $$$$
ministers are supposed to be the best, they can surely close of
loop holes.
Based on the HK minimum wage, every worker doing the jobs listed
will earn $1326. Which is more than what they are earning now. Come
election time, we should provide this information to every low wage
earner and ask him to think twice as his vote pays the Ministers
more but not himself
