PAP Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam aims to increase the
wages of the average Singapore worker to $3,100 in ten years’ time
from the present low level of $2,400.
While the cost of living, especially that of public housing has
ballooned in recent years, the median wages of Singapore workers
have stagnated.
The starting pay for a fresh engineer graduate in 2004 is
between $2,600 – $2,800 while A first year medical officer can
expect a monthly salary of $3,500 in 2004. It remains the same or
even less today.
Howeever, Mr Tharman is optimistic that the target is achievable
if Singapore have workers with top quality skills.
“It’s a bit of a puzzle as to why despite a good
education system, good schools system and one of the better rated
university system in the world, we are not achieving as much with
the workforce in terms of skills, expertise and therefore
productivity – there is a gap,” he was quoted as saying in
Channel News Asia.
Singapore has one of the lowest wages and labor productivity
among developed nations, thanks to the PAP’s pro-foreigner and
liberal immigrations policies which have seen the country being
swarmed by foreign workers and immigrants in recent years.
According to a Wall Street Journal report in January, the
relentless influx of foreign workers has depressed the median wages
of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, decreased
labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standards
of living.
Singapore was ranked a miserable 53th position as the most
liveable city in the world by the Economist Unit behind the likes
of Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.
Though it is the richest country in Asia in terms of GDP per
capita after Japan, it has the highest income gap as well (after
Hong Kong) among third world countries like Russia, Ghana and
Rwanda.
While the median salaries of Singaporeans have stagnated, that
of PAP ministers and MPs have sky-rocketed and is likely to
continue increasing in the next years.
