About Birth Rate, & Govt.'s Token Actions

HyperFocal SG

Tue, Aug 05, 2008
The Straits Times

Job interview bias: Govt must step in

NINE out of 10 of my girlfriends concur that attending job interviews is like attending Chinese New Year family gatherings, as many employers ask irrelevant and discriminating questions such as intention to marry and have children. The Government should put rules in place to prohibit interviewers from asking such questions.

Details such as age and family members' details should also be omitted from job application forms as these may lead interviewers to discriminate as many employers prefer not to hire mature workers or women with young children. In the event that it is necessary for these details to be made known to employers, the company should be entitled to them only after the interviewee has worked there for a certain time, say after the probation period.

Despite Singapore's First-World status, our employment laws still lag behind those of other countries. The Government can run campaign after campaign to encourage employers to adopt fair employment practices voluntarily, but in reality employers will probably be slow without rewards or regulations. Instead of token efforts, it is high time the Government took radical action if it wants to boost the birth rate.

Karen Lee (Ms)

HyperFocal SG

Nur Dianah Suhaimi
Mon, Aug 04, 2008
The Sunday Times

I don't want to have any more children

After just one year of joining her new workplace, sales manager Lau Li Nah was already the top performer.

The then-32-year-old mother of one chalked up the most sales for the office stationery company.

This, however, did not stop it from sacking her in 2006 when she was about six months pregnant with her second child.

Her employer, who had some 30 workers, told her to leave immediately.

Ms Lau, now 34, said: 'I was so shocked. He said he was sacking me because I didn't inform him some of his former staff had joined a rival company. That's their choice. What has it got to do with me?'

She was convinced it was because she was pregnant, and the company did not want to bear the cost of her maternity leave.

With a baby due in three months, she was afraid no company would employ her. However, a multinational company (MNC) in the same business took her in. She accepted the job despite the lower pay.

She was earning about $5,000 at the previous job.

Said Ms Lau, who is married to a sales manager: 'Life was tough. Although I was very pregnant by then, I had to walk from office to office and carry heavy catalogues to get new clients.'

She tried to seek redress by reporting her first employer to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

But the latter's hands were tied because her services had been terminated more than three months before her baby was due.

According to the law, pregnant women dismissed without sufficient cause within three months before the birth must still be granted paid maternity leave.

Said Ms Lau: 'I was so disappointed MOM couldn't help me. There are so many loopholes in the law which irresponsible employers can take advantage of.'

She has since been promoted at the MNC. But until today, she is still bitter about being unfairly let go.

'I will never want to work for a local company again. And I don't want to have any more children. The experience has really left me jaded.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Aug 3, 2008.

AndrewPKYap SG

The despots pretend to care but they are pro money, pro business, anti humans... and to them, silliporeans are even less than humans so how can anyone expect them to care about the plight of silliporeans?

In Australia where humans are beings, the salaries are three time higher and the humans there suffer less working stress.

HyperFocal SG

... what we have, is not a government but an authoritative entity similar to that of a Corporation, only interested, geared, & focussed on the Bottom Line - PROFITS, the Economy of Commerce, and staying in power to administer the economy. People are seemingly like a hindrance to them, hence therefore...

ivebeenhad SG

if you refer silliporeans to the majority that vote for them, then i guess you are right, they are too stupid to be humans, they dont deserve their rights as human beings.

I dont like living amongst silliporeans, i think i should migrate, then again, i might be labled a quitter.

mistyblue SG

if you refer silliporeans to the majority that vote for them, then i guess you are right, they are too stupid to be humans, they dont deserve their rights as human beings.

I dont like living amongst silliporeans, i think i should migrate, then again, i might be labled a quitter.

You will not worry about being call a quitter when you're overseas enjoying life and making money. You will think of the people who dare to call people who want a better life quitters to be the biggest Losers, that they have to resort to such crass tactics as to try to retain their fellow citizens thinking that "shaming" them will keep them selfishly to Singapore shores while milking these people dry and opening up unfair competition against their fellow people. But do be mindful that there are lots of fellow Singaporeans who will not have the opportunity to get out of the country, and there is always a bunch who choose to believe that their the current party in power has done no wrong.

mistyblue SG

as for the topic .... everyone knows that all the nice reports in the papers about govt and employers supporting the people to ahev work life balance and have more kids are all a bunch of propaganda. The reality is always different and the govt has always sided the employers and will never change. So why do people actually think they will get a fair deal in Singapore? why do people actually believe the things in the papers?

xtreyier SG

why do people actually believe the things in the papers?

Maybe because it is true, verifiable, and get the same response from those interviewed?

Look, life aint easy. It never is a bed of roses. But you do have a choice. A choice to be happy or sad. I had a friend who was cold and calculative. He was never happy, no matter what he obtained. Beautiful wife, good kids, condos, well paying job. He was always commenting how others were better off than him.

It is good to aspire, but when aspirations itself becomes an obsession, it poses a danger to one's life - doom to failure and misery, for a human's need can never be satisfied as long as we are not immortals.

Worse still when it affects those surrounding him. No one likes to associate with a negative person every though misery loves company. He thus lived a lonely life even when others envy his material status.

I know what i said is easier said than done and it will fall upon deaf ears. It's still your choice - to get up from a fall, press on or just lie down, moan and whine to every passerby for pity.

mistyblue SG

True. If the person is not contented, the person will never be. There's lots of such people around. Just don't get sucked into their negative thinking. What is right and must be done, should be done.

Fantagf SG

Just read and listen to what the ministers say we will know what sort of crap ruling party we have - discourage salary increment in the midst of people having to cope with the high inflation. Govt is partially responsible for rising cost of living, they constantly increase transport fares without good reasons. The only winners in this tiny dot is Pay and Pay, keep taking , still not enough - take more and more as days and years pass by.

ivebeenhad SG

lets all leave singapore ok? even if you are a cold hearted negative person, you'd be slightly happier in a less stressful place where human rights exist. maybe when LKY kicks the bucket and PAP crumbles, the quitters might consider returning to singapore

Anyway im starting to think that the PAP is only good for brainwashing people and destroying opposition. apart from that, they fail terribly in saving singaporean birth rates implementing piss poor policies and keeping it on low priority.

Rednano SG

Mothers want more flexible working conditions
By Margaret Perry, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 05 August 2008 2037 hrs

SINGAPORE: Earning money for the family is the main reason why mothers want to return to the workforce. But they said on average, their paycheck has to be at least S$1,200 a month to make it worth their while.

These are some of the findings from a survey of 1,000 mothers by the support network, Working Mothers Forum, in April.

The pool of respondents was made up of 560 working mothers and 440 stay-at-home mothers who intend to re-enter the workforce.

In the survey, 37 per cent of the respondents said their main reason for stopping work was because they did not want to leave their children in childcare centres or with maids.

71 per cent of the stay-at-home mums said they wanted to work to earn money for the family. But 63 per cent of them said they were unable to find jobs that offer family-friendly working hours.

The Working Mothers Forum, which commissioned the survey, said measuring workers' performance rather than the hours spent in the office is one solution.

Cheryl Liew, vice-chair of a panel of experts, Working Mothers Forum, said: "With that, we will be moving away from having the person physically in the office or in the workplace, to one where work can be done anywhere, and that basically would facilitate a mum to be able to be at home, looking after the kids and yet be able to fulfil her professional obligations."

Working from home is not an option for all industries, but flexible working hours can be. For example, hotels and the service industry usually operate around the clock so they need staff to work different shifts throughout the day, night, weekdays and weekends.

Some mothers have found their own solutions. One of them said: "I'm a music teacher and I teach at home, so teaching at home actually gives me some flexibility of time and I can monitor my kids' work."

Whether it is pay or flexible working conditions, most of the mothers surveyed said employers and the government are in the best position to help them attain work-life balance.

Getting the right work-life balance could help boost Singapore's flagging birth rate.

Dr Daniel Goh, chair of a panel of experts, Working Mothers Forum, said: "A quarter or more of the mothers said they will consider having more babies if they have a better solution to their work and family life balances, and I think that is encouraging and something that we hope to improve for them and enable them to have more babies."

Working mothers said the two main challenges they faced were exhaustion and lack of personal time.

- CNA/so

dukedracula SG

misty,

are you the family way? i guess not ya, not with the in-laws you have to deal with, another deterrent apart from career….

mistyblue SG

They can say what they want. but just don't let that defeat us from living with dignity and correctly for ourselves. If you watch CJ7, although its a stretch, but the father (Zhou Xin Chi) said the same thing. And there is no point pointing to our ruling party cause they will continue to be in power. The question now is at this moment, what will you do to make your life better? what will you think to not lose yourself to all that bitterness and unhappiness?

mistyblue SG

misty,

are you the family way? i guess not ya, not with the in-laws you have to deal with, another deterrent apart from career….

No.. not in family way. Not very keen.. I've seen better in-laws who behave as their role and position demands. They also do not pressure their son/daughters with their selfish demands and strain the young couple's relationships. They also give space and understand that money is hard to come by. Then, there is my MIL. I cannot understand how can 10 eggs just get eated in about 3 days when I only ate 1. I cannot understand how come a bottle of oil can finish in 2 weeks. I cannot udnerstand why I need to throw away 6 loafs of bread stocked into the fridge. There are alot of things that my MIL do, say and act that is not appropriate for her role. She still think she's the boss of my house. I just didn't want to bother with her cause to me, she low class shrew who thinks she's high class and talks big but don't know sh!t with a narrow mind. She likes to manipulate everything to her own personal advantage. She was just complaing this morning at 7 to her husband. Actually she calls her sisters to complain everyday and make judgements about other people's life everyday. There's karma and perhaps she gets to enjoy this life time, I don't think she'll be so lucky next time. But people like her will stick around really long and just to make others suffer longer.

Poh Ah Pak SG

But people like her will stick around really long and just to make others suffer longer.

That is like Lee Kuan Yew's behaviour.

Old already still don't die, want to stay in power.

Frogleg888 SG

Union fight for u?

Wait long long........

novelltie SG

Singapore's mentality is that we as mere citizens must fend for ourselves. the government will not offer an olive branch just because you were retrenched and may need certain help before you can get another job.

there are some "place" that will try to help you secure a job but generally you are on your own...