Poverty and Discontent On the Rise In Singapore?

last SG · 2004-08-05T10:12:45+00:00

you raise a very good point in the upgrading of flats. by the way some singaporean are enlighten by the recent turn down of upgrading by singaporean in some...

Blueray SG

Nowadays I am seeing more and more elderly people working as cleaners in hawker centers. When I walk along the east coast beach I see homeless people sleeping at the seaside. I live near Bedok Interchange and whenever I come back home late at night I notice there are quite a few unkempt men make bed with cardboard paper. I have also noticed that there is an increase in the number of families who can't afford to pay their utility bills and therefore have to live in darkness.

Whenever I go to coffeeshops, I hear people complaining about the PAP and how they are kanna exploited at work all the time.

What do u guys think?

Joshua1975 SG

Laughing
some days back over heard some old man say:
"aiya si gin na cae wee liao, si mi lan jiao ge kee gai... ... ..." ~~ "hazi the brat is taking over, all price are going up... ... ..."

ya some of the things have or going up now Crying or Very sad i think the next will be the cark park, season parking, and parking coupon...

yo!!! many more to come man cheers to all of us that going to pay more...

Blueray SG

The price of everything is skyrocketing....For young people like myself who are still very energetic and needs to chong, it is a nightmare.

elindra SG

The sad thing is these people are usually lowly educated and can only do menial work.

How do you define exploited at work? The foreign workers command a lower pay for menial work and they tend to work harder. Singaporeans will need to compete with them. Have you seen the Chinese in China work for a contract. They are so effecient and effective that it is scary. At the rate most Singaporeans work and want their rights, we will fall behind the chinese in terms of competition soon.

The government is trying to change most Singaporean mindset to stop looking to them for help when there is trouble. I think that we are too pampered a nation really.

Anyway, there are 2 sides of a coin. You see the homeless sleeping in the streets and yet at the same time, you can see ppl queueing up to buy Louis Vuitton bags at their boutique. You also get people who don't think twice paying S$150 for a dress.

There will always be a gap between the rich and the poor, the only question is, is the gap widening too much? Call it a vicious cycle but in most cases, the rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer.

I_love_korea_n SG

Mr. Green

elindra SG

Well, they will have to justify even after staying at home for so many years, they can still add value to their work in the current job market.

The thing is that the chinese and malaysians have lower expectations and they are hard workers as well. The company will always weigh the pros and cons. If all things constant in terms in work output, the company will logically choose someone who is of lower cost.

Support is one thing. Singaporeans must be able to add value to their work to justify their higher pay. If not, we will continue to lose jobs to the foreigners

Blueray SG

I remember half a year ago when my friend just finished his O level exams, he was trying to look for a job as a factory worker or something like that.... He called on phone to enquire about the job. The first words he heard coming from the opposite end of the phone were "We only employ Malaysians".

reyes SG

i love the topic.good point elindra. in fact i do agree the gap in singapore is getting wider and wider, this is effect due to our country to focus up the value chain in our industry. more work will be focus on skill and professional service than just manual job. moreover our govt open arms to cheap labour taking over lower levels jobs set the salaryceiling . singaporean who are less educated will get stuck in the pay bracket and will be use as comparison with worker from foriegn country.

those job who are paying well, will be compare to jobs in UK, states and western europe which in terms of salary, singapore still relative competitive and are less subjective to foreign talents influx.

can we live without foreign workers?yes and no answer. if we say no , do we have enough singaporean to perform the job. doesn anyone wana pay town council $120a mth for conservation charges so that a local singaporean can do the job. currently $61 for 5 room, bangla job.

i never like P.P, as the name go, pay and pay. if we are paying for what we get reasonably, its fine. only things unreasonable to me is HDB. no doubt i agree no ministries with exception of defence or home affair should lose money, but it shouldnt be making billions of singaporean hard earn cash.
10 years ago, my parents bought 4 room only 100k area 110msq. now name change 5room , floor area same, cost 200k. byt compare to 10 years ago, salary dint jump by 100%. we afford it because of easy loans these days. so that singapore can have booming banking sector and everyone has a shelter only to be in debt for the next 30 years. you can die but you cannot sick. sound familiar, but it true.

will we see a singapore govern by another party? not in the next 10 years or unless singapore have a big disaster. Hitler will not be in power has the country not in depression and rich gap getting wider as the jews prosper and average germans suffer. discontment exist and demands change of govt.
on th avergae singapore are still surviving but when things come to stage where majority singapore is really not meeting end needs, things will change. and new arena will be born.

all my personal opinion, if it conflict with anyone pt, my apology

LazerLordz SG

Usually, structural unemployment will have a gap where the economy moves on to a higher-order sector but the workforce skills lag behind due to human factors.

robertteh SG

Poverty and discontent

started when Anti-welfare policy,

With good intent,

Got mis-carried into a cost-recovery binge,

Pursued in the name of efficiency,

To ultimate high costs,

Alas, it will take yet a mighty new ideology,

Like mass participation,

Equal opportunity for everyone,

To undo what was done,

To reach final enlightenment and nationhood once again. Surprised

gangsterkillar SG

Haiz....... complain also no use! we'll koe when the time comes!

Thailand_Hero SG

complains are from the financial incompetant. If you cannot afford things like petrol or expensive dining, then don't try to be like the jones. lose the car, take a bus or something else.

sleeping in the streets will fall under the destitute persons act. People who sleep in corners of streets and buidlings are a nuisence to society. they pee and shit all over the place. poor financial planning cannot be confused for government abuse.

blame yourself. dont blame government.

from my observation i see many people moving to condos and landed property. in any society, destitutes and useless people plague the streets. is the whole world government inefficient? i believe singapore is already doing a great job as a 1st world nation.

reyes SG

agree in some sense that some singaporean who complain they are poor are actually living in condos and driving a japanese car. well, these ppl should just downgrade and live comfortably.
what we are saying is generally the lower educated ppl who are willing to work but could not meet end needs. i agree singapore are facing structural unemployment at this stage, but are this problem here to stay for a long time, besides, we also face age discrimination in the workforce. how many times have we heard in the news, radio, newspaper about cases of discimination by employer in our singapore society. this kind of discrimination are more serious problem that structural unemplloyment. at least structural unemployment problem would be resolve by the next generation but age discrimination in the working place is tough problem to tackle and often less able to detect and catch the company, as each company has the right to employ the right workers to suit their requirement.
how many of us are not worrying abt retrenchment when you hit late 30s and 40s. even if we are to lower our requirement, but yet not given a chance in the workforce for the elderly.

save enough for retirement is the answer, if we can live what we can afford today and not living on tomorrow money. but still, can we save enough for retirement, 2 million?? gosh, then must hit bigsweep from now before i retire.

drawer SG

When there is trouble and we cant look to the government for help,then why the hell do we need this kind of "useless" government?One thing we have to remember,GST,increase of utility fees,education fees,transportation fees,medical fees etc,all these is not within our control,its the "government" who take charge of it.And high jobless rate,high rental fees,poor economy etc,all these are poor management of the "government".If all the goodies the "government" know how to take,and every year taxing more n more fiercelyand when we are getting poorer n poorer and they come to us and say "u die ur business,we are not going to responsible for it!"This kind of "f**k up government better go n die!Dont forget u know,our dear PM Goh salary is higher than that of the U.S president,if he n his colleagues cant do the job well,why the hell do we need them for?To eat finish our rice?

sgboy2004 SG

Croco is poor Sad

BeEtHoVeN SG

Croco dun need money to survice de ... Mr. Green

Qitai SG

Why wait for the government to help you? Better to help yourself then to wait for them. Become skeleton liao if you wait for them.

av98m SG

Saving lotsa money for emergencies and retirement is indeed the key. I think many are realising this, hence the falling birth rate. The cost of raising children is just way too high. Notice how those families that have problems paying their bills usually have 2 or more kids? You’re much more mobile and able to work overseas at a moment’s notice if you’re not saddled with children and a high overhead, also able to save a much larger percentage of your income.

SilverPal SG

I hate to admit it, but I agree with av98m. Cost of having children is too high!

Start from marraige; the cost of a 'dun lose face' wedding can be quite high ($5k, or $10k??? I dun really know) to be spent at 1 shot, assuming you decide that you don't want your honeymoon.

Then all the cost of buying a new home (think i saw another thread about HDB prices being too high). Assuming that you still want to stay in your parents' basement, then you can save on that.

Then educating the child. Kindergarten 2 years, 6 years primary school, 4 years secondary school, 3 years poly. Total 15 years of studies you have to pay for. I'm assuming that you want to save money on JC and uni (local $5.5k a year I think).

Non of the gals I date want to have children.

Anyway, in my personal opinion, I do not think Sg is a nanny state. A nanny state is one that doles out free food and unemployment benefits for those who cannot find jobs for certain reasons. Their education is free, including local uni. Their medical is also free (I know there are exceptions, conditions and flaws in such a system). In such a state, the taxes imposed on the working ppl is rather heavy.

If sg was a nanny state, we would not be discussing this topic in this thread right? It will seem more like, "Why should I work when I'm taxed to feed those too lazy to work?"

Chin Eng SG

Very Happy It all depends on the expectation of the individual (plus how one cave in into the demands of the family. The marriage can be made simple, why it is not, is as you'd said, "saving face". I wanted my wedding to be simple, but my parents didn't want that. My dad even allow his guest to drink Guinness by the glass... ok with me... he paid for it.
Very Happy Cost of children is not too high, if one can dispense with the frills eg, extra lessons, etc. I have two children. They are relatively low maintenance. No tuition, no music lessons, no ballet, no singing lessons etc. Best part is that they are doing well in school.
The issue with the desolete may not necessarily lie with the government. How about people who did abandon their own parents? Or people who refuse to be frugal when they were rich?
Very Happy Old folks working in food court? Many of them may be doing by choice ie. do not wish to sit around at home. When my dad was retrenched (or retired), I told him he had three choices: 1. Work because he need to (financial reason), 2. Work because he choose to (psychological reason) 3. or what the heck, stay at home (don't want, don't need to work). He choose 3. Not because he (or I) is stinking rich, but because we have a simpler life style.

... please don't get me wrong. I am not a government lackey. Just that it is too easy to blame someone else for our own follies....