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Tag: minimum wage

  • SDP: Model For Implementing Minimum Wage In Singapore

    SDP: Model For Implementing Minimum Wage In Singapore

    Minimum wage (the lowest level of wages an employer may legally pay an employee) is an important policy tool that balances the needs of an economy with those of low-income workers so that economic growth occurs in a just and sustainable manner.

    A wage structure that is out of kilter with the cost of living and productivity is inimical to long-term growth.

    Under the SDP ‘s A New Economic Vision for Singapore, the government will establish a Wage Equity Commission (WEC) to recommend the minimum wage level.

    The WEC will comprise representatives from trade unions, chambers of commerce, professional associations, social work organisations, and academe.

    The determination of the minimum wage level will be based on a basket of factors including the cost of living index and inflation rate.

    Based on a wage level that would allow a worker working full-time (44 hours per week) to afford basic necessities, the SDP recommends the official minimum wage to be $7 per hour. This works out to be $1,232 per month for a full-time job of 44 per week. The amount would be subject to review by the WEC.

    Following the enactment of the Minimum Wage Act, the WEC will assess the impact of the policy on a basket of indicators (see box on right) and publish annual reports to monitor the situation.

    In addition, the WEC will be empowered to deal with complaints of wage manipulation and non-compliance by employers.

    The Progressive Wage Model recently introduced by the PAP targets only a small number of low-wage workers in the cleaning and security industries. What about workers in other sectors who are paid below a fair, living wage?

    There is also no mechanism to stop employees from manipulating the system by paying workers more but extending their work hours.

    Hong Kong implemented minimum wage in 2011 amidst much scare-mongering by the policy’s opponents that such a law would increase business costs to the extent that it would make the economy less competitive.

    However since its implementation, minimum wage has not adversely affected Hong Kong’s economy which continues to remain competitive and buoyant.

    Singapore is one of the few countries left in the world without a minimum wage law. The SDP will campaign for minimum wage, as we have in the past, in the upcoming elections.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.ucoz.org

  • Barry Desker: Mindset Shift Needed On MInimum Wage And Dual Citizenship

    Barry Desker: Mindset Shift Needed On MInimum Wage And Dual Citizenship

    Professor Barry Desker believes that Singapore should be prepared to have a minimum wage and allow dual citizenship. He also said that Singaporeans should welcome new citizens.

    “Attitudes need to change,” Prof Barry wrote in his opinion piece in The Straits Times.

    “We should welcome the presence of new Singaporeans and encourage their integration into Singapore society.

    “We should revise our laws to permit dual citizenship, which benefits some who are permanent residents but do not wish to give up the citizenship of their land of birth.

    “It would also allow the growing numbers of Singaporeans working abroad to retain their links with Singapore,” he said.

    “We should be prepared to adopt a minimum wage policy to protect vulnerable groups in our workforce and to ensure that cheap foreign labour does not displace Singaporeans in their twilight years eking out a living.”

    Prof Barry said that a minimum wage should be considered because “The ease with which foreign labour was recruited has resulted in depressed wages for a segment of our population with minimal educational qualifications, unskilled and often in their 50s and 60s.”

    But he admitted that even though there have been “calls for the introduction of a minimum wage”, the government has resisted implementing one over the years.

    Prof Barry also admitted that the “high levels of economic growth over the past two decades resulted from increases in capital and foreign labour deployed, not from significant productivity increases.”

    “However, the unsustainable sharp influx of foreigners granted permanent residence, as well as employment permits, in recent years has resulted in a backlash, making the issue of immigration politically toxic,” he said.

    Prof Barry said that as a result, for younger Singaporeans, they are “concerned about competition for university places or preferred jobs”.

    “Older Singaporeans worry about the changing environment around them, as they have neighbours with alien languages and different lifestyles.”

    However, he felt that “ethnic ghettos in HDB estates have disappeared, as legislation has ensured an ethnic balance”, even as he admitted that “condominiums are beginning to see such ghettos, as new immigrants and expatriates from certain nationalities congregate in preferred locations”.

    “The past year has seen rising anti-immigration sentiment in Singapore,” Prof Barry added.

    He said that these “views” have been “influenced” by “the pressure placed on Singapore’s infrastructure because of the sharp increase in the number of people residing in Singapore.”

    “MRT trains are crowded, hospital beds always full, traffic jams occur frequently, once-quiet parks are filled with foreign workers on weekends.

    “The rapid pace of the foreign influx resulted in growing criticism and an undercurrent of resentment reflected in social media sites.”

    Prof Barry also said that “the tightening of government policy on foreign workers in recent months” has led to Singaporeans being employed in “restaurants, offices and department stores, for example, cannot rely on cheap foreign labour”.

    He asked, “One wonders where these people were employed before the restrictions were imposed.”

    “But the reality is that immigration will continue and there will be more foreign labour employed, if low birth rates continue,” Prof Barry continued to say.

    But Prof Barry acknowledged the need for a minimum wage as “The pace of change over the past 50 years has left us with a pioneer generation lacking the education and skills to benefit from the transformation that has taken place in Singapore.

    He also suggested that the pioneer generation package is not a sustainable solution.

    “Ensuring a basic living wage will do more to retain their pride and sense of purpose than handouts as part of a pioneer generation package.”

    He also asked, “Do we retain Third World attitudes towards manual labour even as we proclaim ourselves a First World society?”

    He felt that “Internet chatter suggests that many in our community are unwilling to recognise that even temporary workers have rights and should be protected.”

    Prod Barry pointed to how “The Little India riots last December highlighted the risk of outbreaks of social unrest” and that “A minor dispute in Geylang or Beach Road on weekend nights involving Singaporeans and foreign workers could easily turn nasty.”

    He also warned of packing migrant workers into constructed ghettos because “As large self-contained dormitories are built, dissatisfaction on trivial issues could spark a destabilising wave of riots and public commotion.”

    Prof Barry also warned the government that “even as we want to focus on big ideas and grand plans for reimagining Singapore, reality will intrude.

    “Dealing with such challenges should not be seen as a distraction, but as part of the core test in remaking Singapore to meet the needs of the next generation.”

    Prof Barry is a Distinguished Fellow and Bakrie Professor of South-east Asia Policy at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

    As such, Prof Barry said that “the possibility of paradigm shifts should not be ignored.

    “The emergence of unexpected issues which become the focus of attention by policymakers can be seen in the current debate over the population challenge.”

    But he also resigned himself to the knowledge that, “What is striking is how much our imaginations are prisoners of the present.”

    Prof Barry is not the first to call for a minimum wage in Singapore. As he pointed out, there has been numerous calls in the past which the government has resisted.

    However, Prof Barry’s plea to the government is the latest, as worries about the threat of social rupture has crept in even for the well-heeled who are now finally beginning to worry about how the angry sentiments can impact Singapore’s social landscape.

    However, beneath Prof Barry’s plea is also an acknowledgement that the government might be choosing to overlook the social problems, while continuing to believe that it is able to plan for the future, based on old models of thinking. He cautioned the government about its state of denial, and is aware that his plea might just as well fall on deaf ears, as past warnings have as well.

    The state of the Singapore economy is in danger, as the government has over-extended its use of cheap labour which has not only resulted in depressed wages and livelihoods of Singaporeans which have suffered, but it also means that Singapore’s productivity is now backwards by more than a decade or so. This would mean at least a decade or more lost in Singapore, depending on when the government wakes up to its broken economic model.

    And until then, Singapore and Singaporeans will continue to lose out and by the time a change of mindset in the government, either by a mindset change by the current ruling party, the PAP, or by a change of government, decides to reverse the downward spiral of things, Singaporeans would have to brace themselves for the drastic restructuring to finally take place and one which has been postponed for far too long as the current government lacks the political will to do what is necessary to put Singapore back on track.

    But as Prof Barry tacitly acknowledges, any such change might take decades as the PAP is unlikely to change its mindset and neither is it likely to be willing to cede power to another government.

     

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com

  • Are HDB Flats Affordable For Low-Income Singaporeans?

    Are HDB Flats Affordable For Low-Income Singaporeans?

    Can a Singaporean who earns $850 a month afford to buy a Housing Board flat?

    Mr Mohammad Charlie Jasni says yes.

    The odd-job labourer earns that amount, and he and his family will be moving into a new two-room HDB flat in Punggol by the end of the year.

    He had successfully balloted for the 45sq m build-to-order unit in August 2009.

    It cost $99,220, but because he earns less than $5,000 a month, he qualifies for a government housing grant that gives him $40,000 to offset the flat’s price.

    This means he has $59,220 left to pay, which he will do using his Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings.

    He and his wife already have about $40,000 in their CPF accounts, and this will grow as he continues to work.

    Based on HDB’s calculations, he needs to pay a monthly housing instalment of $83 over 30 years.

    ‘By paying the $83 out of my CPF, it means I have that little more for daily expenses,’ said Mr Charlie, 33.

    He is currently living with his wife and two children in a two-room rental flat in Beo Crescent. They pay $44 a month for that flat.

    They are excited about their upcoming home and are already discussing renovation ideas and shopping for furniture.

    ‘It is good to have a home of our own,’ he said.

    Mr Charlie’s story puts a face to a statistic that has been debated in the last week.

    In Parliament last Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam revealed that ‘a family with $1,000 income can now, through our housing subsidies, purchase a small flat’.

    He was responding to Workers’ Party member Gerald Giam’s comments about Singaporeans being unable to afford a flat.

    The minister’s remarks sparked off much discussion in both cyberspace and coffee shops alike. Some wondered how $1,000 could buy anyone a flat, given that sum was hardly enough to support a family’s daily living expenses.

    The next day, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan explained that Mr Tharman was referring to a new two-room flat.

    He added that the subsidised price of such flats was about $100,000 if the applicant was a first-time buyer. He would also be entitled to housing grants of up to $60,000.

    The net selling price would thus be $40,000, and the monthly mortgage payment can be fully paid from his CPF contribution, Mr Khaw said.

    In response to queries from The Straits Times, the HDB said it was unable to say how many households earning $1,000 a month own two-room flats. But it pointed to how that it has two schemes that target low-income, first-time buyers.

    The Additional CPF Housing Grant Scheme (AHG) benefits households whose income is not more than $5,000 a month. The maximum grant quantum is now $40,000, and it benefits 8,000 households every year, said the HDB.

    The Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG) is given to first-timer families earning up to $2,250 a month to buy a small flat. Those earning $1,500 or less get a $20,000 grant. SHG is over and above regular housing subsidies and the AHG.

    The HDB estimated that about 700 tenants currently renting flats under the Public Rental Scheme can benefit from the SHG if they decide to buy a flat. To date, the scheme has benefited 53 households who have bought two-room flats.

    The HDB also gave The Straits Times five recent case studies of households with monthly income of about $1,000 who bought two-room flats. Four managed to buy new flats with the help of both housing grants. The fifth used only AHG as SHG had not been implemented when he bought his flat.

    Out of the five families, three were rental tenants who have bought a new flat without taking any loan because they used the housing grant and their own CPF savings. The other two were families currently living with relatives who have bought new flats using both grants and their CPF savings.

    In one case, a couple who lived in a rental flat bought a new flat in Bukit Panjang. At the point of applying for a flat, their monthly income was $900.

    The flat cost $106,350. They got the maximum total housing grant of $60,000 – $40,000 AHG and $20,000 SHG. This, together with their CPF savings, meant they did not have to take any loan.

    In another case, a man and his mother bought a new flat in Sengkang for $117,750. They got $60,000 in grants, and took a 17-year loan with a monthly instalment of $131.

    Schemes to help with expenses

    THE Straits Times visited five blocks of two-room flats in the Woodlands and Ghim Moh areas this week and spoke to people in over 30 homes.

    Most of the residents there were renting their units.

    Of the four who owned their flats, one had downgraded from a four-room unit, while three others had downgraded after selling their previous flat in the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme.

    Among those renting, many were in their 60s and 70s and retired. They said they do not have much in their CPF or bank accounts, which is why they cannot buy their own units.

    Madam Tan Chui Eng, in her 70s, and her husband, Mr Teo Kim Wee, in his 80s, said they have been living in a two-room rental flat in Ghim Moh for six years.

    Most of the money in their CPF accounts has been used for medical expenses, they said. They have three daughters who pay their monthly rental of $61 and utility bills. ‘Of course, we would like to buy our own flat, but we cannot afford it,’ said Madam Tan in Teochew.

    MPs said that with grants and other assistance schemes, households earning $1,000 should be able to afford a two-room flat.

    Mr Vikram Nair, an MP for Sembawang GRC, said he knows of such households who rely on CPF contributions to finance their purchases.

    As to whether $1,000 is enough for a family to survive, he said there are public assistance schemes, such as GST vouchers and Workfare Bonus, which can help low-income families cope with daily needs.

    Mr Liang Eng Hwa, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said regardless of whether they buy a flat, low-income households have little cash on hand. But rather than use cash to pay rent, ‘why not use the CPF to pay for a flat?’

    ‘The cash they save by not paying rent may not be much, but still it gives them that little more for daily expenditure,’ he added.

    For odd-job labourer Mr Charlie, every bit saved helps to pay for living expenses. His wife does part-time administrative work.

    He did not think he could afford a flat ‘but when HDB re-introduced two-room flats again, I felt that perhaps I could afford one’.

    In 2006, HDB resumed construction of two-room flats after 20 years, to give more housing options to low-income households.

    He decided to wait a bit because he wanted to build up his CPF account first. Now that he has bought a home, he feels the pressure of maintaining his CPF account so that the flat can be paid off.

    ‘Some companies are cutting back on manpower and I’m scared that I may lose my job,’ he said.

    But he does not regret buying the unit. He hopes to pass the flat – or a bigger one should they ever upgrade – to his children.

    How he pays for his flat

    Monthly income: $850

    Total household CPF: $40,000

    Cost of build-to-order flat in Punggol: $99,220

    Additional CPF Housing Grant Scheme: $40,000

    Remaining cost of flat: $59,220 ($99,220 less $40,000)

    Estimated monthly instalment for payment: $83 for 30 years

    Deduction from CPF: $83

    Cash outlay: $0

    _________________________________________________

    Housing help for low-income families

    THE Housing Board (HDB) offers two grants to low-income families so they can buy their own flats:

     

    • Additional CPF Housing Grant Scheme (AHG)

     

    THIS was introduced in 2006 to help lower-income Singaporean families buy their first HDB flat. It is targeted at households with incomes of not more than $5,000 a month.

    The size of the grant is based on the applicant’s average gross monthly household income. The grant varies between $5,000 and $40,000. Households earning $1,500 or less a month will get $40,000.

    AHG is an additional subsidy over and above the regular market subsidy and CPF Housing Grant. Both new and resale flat buyers are eligible for AHG.

    It offsets the purchase price of the flat, thereby further reducing the loan a flat buyer needs to take. It is estimated to benefit 8,000 households a year.

     

    • The Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG)

     

    THIS was introduced last year as an additional grant for first-timer low-income families earning up to $2,250 a month, so they can buy a small flat from the HDB.

    The SHG is given out over and above regular housing subsidies and the AHG. Households earning $1,500 or less a month will get $20,000 in SHG. About 700 tenants currently renting flats under the Public Rental Scheme can benefit from the SHG if they choose to buy a flat.

     

    Source: http://www.stproperty.sg

  • Life of a Security Guard

    Life of a Security Guard

    Many people look at a security guard and think “wah, this job damn senang lor…sit down do nothing, get paid”. But FiveStars, I’d like to share with you a story about what it is really like.

    Firstly, I’m in the business of securing condominiums. Sure, the job sounds easy – but I can assure you it’s not. We’re a lost and found centre, a missing children’s centre, we’re plumbers, locksmiths, repairmen, we get called to do odd jobs, we’re in direct line of fire if there are break-ins, domestic quarrels and the first in line with threats.

    Threats, abuses and complaints – we get it all the time when we merely do our job to check on visitors, we get complaints when we do our job to interfere in domestic quarrels. People make noise at the BBQ areas and it is our fault if we cannot get residents and their friends to be have civil.

    I even had a resident make a complaint when her cat died jumping out of the window, and it was my fault for not spotting the cat on the window ledge.

    The salary isn’t huge, the pressures are high. And we’re not allowed to work two jobs at a time even if we wanted to. Please go easy us, we’re just here to do a job like everyone else.

    Liew Bee Choo, 52, security officer at a condo in the East.

    Editor’s notes: The median basic of a security officer is btw $700-$800. Media gross wages after working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week is $1550. The Progressive Wage Model is set to increase their salary by as much as $300.With overtime, that would be at least $450.

    source: facebook.com/FiveStarsAndAMoon