Ministerial
Committee On Low-Wage Workers Report
Identities of persons quoted in
this article will remain anonymous unless otherwise stated.The
views expressed are made in their personal capacity and do not
contribute in any way to their mental capabilities.
A recent government report says that government largesse to the
tune of $1.1 billion,has seen the wages of local low-wage workers
rise significantly.However,many experts have stated that after
factoring in inflation,the real wage increase has been only
$5/mth.
The report,which was led by Education Minister Ng Eng Hen,points
out that low-wage workers had seen their pay rise from $1,200/mth
in 2006 to $1,310/mth in 2008.
However,chairman of the Society of Financial Services
Professionals,Mr Leong Sze Hian,points out that based on data
obtained from the Singapore Department of Statistics,the inflation
rate for 2007 was 2.1% while the inflation for 2008 was 6.5%.
If we factor in the inflation rate
for this 2 years,the value of $1,200 in 2006 is equal to $1305 in
2008.
In other words,the real wage
increment for low-wage workers this past 2 years is a paltry
$5,which is enough to buy you a MacDonalds Happy Meal.
The government report also revealed that families staying in 3-room
flats have seen their monthly salaries rise from $1910 to $2220.Mr
Leong Sze Hian believes this may be due to the fact that more
family members have had to enter the workforce.
He says that if there are more members in a family working,an
additional wage increase of $300 might be a good thing.However,this
also means that the average income of each family member has
decreased.And of course,the expenses incurred such as
transport,meals,laundry etc will increase.
PoThePanda merlions : $1.1
billion?Do we have that many low-wage workers in Singapore?I
suppose this will go into the debit column of the Finance
Ministry's Accounts... ;x
It is after all,time to balance
the Accounts...
I don't know why but i keep
thinking of Texaco,Enron etc...*innocent whistles*
