... If this is truly beneficial, people will not hesitate to sign
up...
... seriously, for those low income self-employed, do you think
they make enough to contribute voluntarily into their Medisave
account???
... I say this WIS thing is more a financial burden than a
supplementary one!!
Many casual workers, self-employed
still not on Workfare
Jeremy Au Yong
Tue, Jan 22, 2008
The Straits Times
OVER 100,000 low-wage casual workers and the self-employed, who
could be eligible for Government income supplements, have not
registered for it.
In fact, they outnumber those who have by two to one.
The large group still falling through the cracks was revealed in
Parliament on Tuesday by Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Manpower)
Hawazi Daipi.
Answering a question from Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong about the few
such workers coming forward, he said: 'It is true that quite a
large number of workers, casual workers or self-employed have not
signed up for the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS).'
'Only 54,000 such workers received WIS compared to 160,000 workers
who received Workfare bonus the year before.'
The WIS scheme replaces the one-off Workfare Bonus that was given
to workers aged 40 and above and who earned $1,500 and below.
However, unlike the bonus, casual workers and the self-employed
need to fulfil their Medisave liabilities before being eligible for
payments.
Mr Hawazi stressed that the Manpower Ministry(MOM) had tried
various efforts to encourage this group to sign up and they do not
know why there is such a low take-up rate