TR EMERITUS

Prologue: Mr Yang was involved in a road traffic accident in 1987 which caused his right arm to be amputated. He used to work as a subcontractor before the accident after which he lost almost everything. After he was discharged from hospital, he became despondent at his situation and turned to drugs. For the next decade, he was admitted into the drug rehabilitation center three times before he finally kicked the habit. Now he has found a new leash of life with a new found job and wife.   PART 1 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rItwpKqFURU&hl=en&fs=1]   PART 2 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU1KPPyJdgQ&hl=en&fs=1]   EDITORS' NOTE: With the ending of the Channel 8 Life Transformer Series, The Wayangparty Club and The Singapore Enquirer will be producing their own mini-series on the poor, needy and destitute Singaporeans under The Enquirer TV Series. We have already produced an interview with 2 Public Assistance (PA) holders. If you know of anybody who is serious need of financial assistance, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] We will seek permission from the individual or family to conduct an interview with them and at the same time we will assist them in whatever ways we can. Each family we interview will receive a small token of S$60 worth of NTUC vouchers.  Read More →

By Fang Zhi Yuan and Lim Yii Tong In recent years, there have been calls for the government to impose a minimum wage to help the low income workers who have seen their take home pay remaining stagnant for for over a decade, the latest coming from Mr Tan Kin Lian in a speech made at Hong Lim Park last Saturday. A minimum wage is the lowest daily, hourly or monthly wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labor. Supporters of the minimum wage claim that it increases the workers' earning power and protects them against exploitation by the employers. They argue that the widening income disparity between the rich and the poor in Singapore merits a relook at the minimum wage to prevent the low-income workers from being trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. The government has so far resisted political pressure to set a minimum wage by arguing that it will retard competitiveness and lead to multi-national companies (MNCs) relocating elsewhere to offset rising labor costs, resulting directly in the efflux of precious Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) out of Singapore. As a small country heavily dependent on trade and industry, Singapore cannot afford to enact labor laws which contravene principles of free market economy. Is the minimum wage really a panacea for all the woes faced by the low income workers ? On paper at least, the arguments sound pretty convincing. Low income and unskilled blue collar workers are hardly earning enough money to support a decent standard of living because a free, unregulated labor market has allowed employers the leeway to depress their wages to keep their profit margins high. Setting a minimal wage to offset rising inflation will allow workers to take home more cash. Proponents of the minimum wage often forgot the potential repercussions which may arise from it, including the possibility of causing a paradoxical increase in unemployment. A classical economics analysis of supply and demand implies that by mandating a price floor above the equilibrium wage, minimum wage laws should cause unemployment. This is because a greater number of workers are willing to work at the higher wage while a smaller number of jobs will be available at the higher wage. Companies can be more selective in those whom they employ thus the least skilled and inexperienced will typically be excluded. A minimum wage will reduce the profit margin of businesses employing minimum wage workers, thus encouraging a move to businesses that do not employ low-skill workers. In response to larger labor costs, businesses will try to compensate for the decrease in profit by simply raising the prices of the goods being sold, thus causing inflation and increasing the costs of goods and services produced hence eroding the gains made by the workers. According to Linda Gorman, a senior fellow at the Independence Institute, a free market think tank, there is broad consensus among economists in opposition to minimum wage laws: "Most economists believe that minimum wage laws cause unnecessary hardship for the very own people they are supposed to help."  (http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/MinimumWages.html) In a 1997 response to a request from the Irish National Minimum wage Commission, economists for the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) summarized economic research results on the minimum wage: "If the wage floor set by statutory minimum wages is too high, this may have detrimental effects on employment, especially among young people." (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD Submission to the Irish National Minimum Wage Commission, Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers no. 28, 1997, p. 15.) Sociologist Lewis F. Abbott, has argued that employing companies are economic organizations, not charities or welfare agencies, and that national minimum wage fixing is a comparatively inefficient, costly, and dysfunctional method of raising the living standards of poorer households. (The Effects of Minimum Wage Controls on Incomes and Welfare", in Abbott, Lewis F. Statutory Minimum Wage Controls: A Critical Review of their Effects on Labour Markets, Employment, and Incomes. Industrial Systems Research Publications, Manchester UK, 2nd. edn. 2000) It is far more practical and cost-effective for governments to assist low income workers directly through income tax relief or direct cash subsidies instead of introducing legislation to artifically inflate the minimum wage which will have a detrimental impact on the economy as a whole. The Singapore government has put in place several measures to help low income workers: 1. Income tax reliefs - most low income workers pay little or no income taxes at all. 2. Workfare bonus and ComCare funds to help retrenched and unemployed workers tide through the period in which they are laid off till they find another job. 3. Continuous retraining and upgrading of skills to keep Singapore workers competitive and employable in the job market. More research needs to be done by the relevant government agencies to determine if these schemes are adequate enough to support needy workers without causing excessive financial hardship to them and to explore other possibilities such as a basic living wage and collective bargaining to be set by the individual industries on their own. Given the economic downturn and rampant inflation which has led to a rising cost of living, we are of the view that present schemes may not be sufficient in the long run. It is not the duty of the government to make every citizen rich, but it is their responsibility to ensure all Singaporeans are guaranteed a minimal standard of living - a roof over their heads and three basic meals a day. No Singaporean should ever go hungry or sleep in the streets due to extreme poverty. Populist calls for a minimum wage in the name of social justice may be appealing to the ears, but in reality are hollow, impractical measures which will bring more pain than relief to the problem it purports to solve.  Read More →

By Fang Zhi Yuan, Chief Editor In his speech two days ago on "Social justice and fairness", ex-NTUC INCOME CEO Mr Tan Kin Lian said he is not keen to run for public office as he does not want any "trouble" at his age. Friends have also warned him that what happened to the late Jeyaretnam, Singapore's long-suffering opposition icon, can happen to him too. If even Mr Tan, a well-respected community leader in Singapore with close links with the PAP, has such reservations about joining politics, what can we expect from the rest of the population ? In other developed countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, politics is a career for aspiring young men and women to serve their fellow citizens and contribute to nation-building, but not so in Singapore where it has become a "dirty" word shunned by both the educated elites and the working class. This pervasive, sometimes irrational fear of being involved in politics is depriving Singapore of the best talents to govern the nation leading to a near-monopoly of power by the ruling party. Singaporeans are still traumatized by the fractious politics perpetuated by the PAP over the last three decades where vocal opposition politicians who speak their minds freely are severely punished with defamatory lawsuits resulting in financial ruins, Jeyaretnam, Tang Liang Hong and Dr Chee being prominent figures in point. Jeyaretnam was a district judge before he entered politics. He was sued repeatedly by PAP leaders over a long political career spanning twenty over years for remarks which will not even merit any attention in other developed countries. Tang Liang Hong was a successful lawyer and a well-respected leader in the Chinese community before he made his maiden foray into politics by standing as a candidate for the Workers' Party in Cheng San GRC. He, too was sued by a dozen of PAP leaders for defamation. Unlike Jeyaretnam, he chose not to pay them a single cent and fled to Melbourne where he now resides. Dr Chee Soon Juan was a psychology professor in NUS before he joined the Singapore Democratic Party in 1992. After numerous altercations with the PAP, he is now a bankrupt with his reputation in tatters thanks to the constant demonization by the state media. These three Singaporeans would have enjoyed remarkable success in their respective careers and a comfortable life had they not joined the wrong side of politics. They will always be a sombre reminder to Singaporeans considering entering politics of the price they may have to pay. The iron-fisted approach adopted by the ruling party to deal with their political opponents have led to the imposition of a voluntary mouth gag on ordinary Singaporeans resulting in a timid, self-centered and opinionless citizenry who dare not voice out views contrary to the establishment. The malaise crippling into Singapore politics is not only detrimental to the progress of the opposition, but to the ruling PAP as well as Singaporeans become so politically apathetic and naive that it is becoming an onerous task to recruit fresh blood to replenish their ranks. In an increasingly materialistic and soulness society which breeds pragmatic individuals more concerned about their livelihoods than the lives of their fellow citizens, the joy of public service is no longer a sufficient motivation for them to run for public office which necessitates the need to increase the pay of ministers and MPs in order to entice them to join the government. MM Lee Kuan Yew once lamented the difficulties the PAP encountered in persuading their first choice candidates to stand for elections. Are Singaporeans paying second or even third choice politicians first world salaries to govern the nation ? A nation can never be run solely by technocrats and bureaucrats. We need visionaries like MM Lee himself in order to build a future and such individuals can never be bought over by money for they are fueled by passions and ideals. The fear of politics is not only keeping worthy Singaporeans from public office, but is also perpetuating a one-party system of governance which is becoming increasingly incompatible in a first world developed country with a modern economy integrated with the global market. In the short run, a virtual rubber-stamp Parliament with no effective opposition present may make it easier for the government to formulate and implement legislation and policies. However in the long term, the lack of political competition will inevitably lead to complacency and stagnation in the ruling elite if it has not already happened. Until we overcome our deeply entrenched fear of politics, Singapore may not be getting the first class leaders it truly deserved.  Read More →