Below is an extract from Fabio Scarpello :
There is no minimum wage in Singapore, and the influx of temporary
foreign labor has driven wages down for locals. "Every employee has
[his/her] own contract," he said. "There is no minimum wage and it
all depends on how good you are at bargaining. Migrant workers are
not wrong but they keep labor costs very low and locals are stuck.
Singaporeans are forced to find two jobs just to survive."
However, long working hours are often not enough for low-paid
Singaporeans to earn the S$1,500 a month, deemed the minimum
necessary to get by. For these people, the city's perks are out of
reach. Fil Low, a 20-year-old shop assistant at I Nuovi Cosmetics,
averages two hours overtime a day but still only makes S$ 900 a
month. "We do not really enjoy our life because of our schedule,"
she said. "We can only really go out about two or three times a
month. It is not an enjoyable life. Professionals have a good life.
For us, it is just making a living."
Lion, 52, drives his taxi a minimum of 12 hours a day, seven days a
week. He never goes to a cinema, bar or to see friends. "I am just
too tired and not in the right mood. I work all the time but I
still cannot support my family properly," he said, without
disclosing his monthly earnings.
Razman, 30, works as a security guard at a Carrefour supermarket
during the day and as a personal trainer in a gym three nights a
week. He averages 14 working hours a day, which pocket him about
S$1,400 a month. "I never go out," he said. "I sometimes see my
friends in the evening for a couple of hours when I am not working
at the gym, but no more than that. I am usually tired ... I am used
to this. Maybe it is in my genes; my father also worked very hard.
Whatever other people do in other countries, we have to do twice as
much. It is Singapore's lifestyle."
