Just what is an economic crises? When the newspapers declare
with an unequivocal voice: "Singapore Economy Experiences Negative
Growth!", how does it affect the man on the street? By this, I am
referring to the layman, of course. Those people on the MRT trains
and SBS buses who meet your cheery smile with a slack-jawed
expression.
It is quite simple to tell the difference between an employed and
an unemployed person. The employed person would be commuting
between the unearthly hours of 7:30 am to 8:30 am. He or she (I
would have to be politically-correct here) would be scanning the
newspapers for articles that would bring a small smile to their
faces. Very often, the guys will be engrossed in the rape or molest
cases that occured during the weekends, whilst the ladies would be
busy perusing the grocery advertisements.
The unemployed would be the one standing quietly in the corner,
talking to himself. He is not mad or a registered patient of
Woodbridge Hospital, he is just rehearsing his lines for the
upcoming interview. It is amazing how much information he can pack
in a twelve-minute journey to town. (In Singapore, of course,
everywhere you go takes approximately twelve minutes)
Now that we have a clearer picture of the actors involved in an
Economic Crises, let us get back down to business. Just what is
negative growth? To understand growth, especially a country's
economic growth, you have to look at it's Gross National Product.
It is more affectionately known as GNP, and it refers quite simply
to the total value of goods and services produced by an economy.
The more buying and selling the country does, the bigger its GNP.
In short, a country's GNP is also it's national income.
A country like Singapore depends very heavily on its exports and
imports. If exports exceed imports, we have a positive growth in
GNP. When imports exceeds exports, then negative growth results.
Very often, this triggers a series of falling dominoes that would
ultimately lead to that mother of all dreaded words.
RETRENCHMENT!
Yes, retrenchment is part and parcel of an economy based on
capitalist ideals. Every corporation is only willing to look out
for itself. Profits mean everything, and it is this very principle
that motivates many firms to retrench its workers in times of
trouble. Of course, when the economy is hale and healthy, employees
are expected to give a 101% to their employers. Corporate loyalty
is the by-word. Unfortunately though, the formula does not seem to
work in reverse. At the first sign of an economic downturn, firms
start having meetings at the oddest times of the day, and
supervisors begin to look at you strangely. In most cases, a
light-hearted census would be taken behind managerial doors and the
losers of this exercise would be irrevocably given the boot.
During a recession, companies also behave in many strange and
puzzling ways. The Development Bank of Singapore, for example,
acquired the Hongkong-based Dao Heng Bank and placed a $9.4 billion
bid to takeover the Overseas United Bank in June 2001. In that same
month, the ambitious bank annouced pay cuts for all its employees,
including its managers who gleefully rode the bandwagon...
Would like to hear your views on the recent economic
downturn...writing a new article for Pebble
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