Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Pay decent minimum wage

Monday, February 08, 2010

Pay decent minimum wage

Who wrote this statement? Do you agree with it?

Quote
Paying indecently low wages in high-cost Singapore not only dehumanises our workers, it also creates insecurity among the workforce. A wage structure that is out of kilter with productivity is inimical to long-term growth. Paying workers $3 and ministers $1,000 for an hour's work is not "market forces" - it is exploitation at its ugliest.

Legislating minimum wage for the lowest of the low-skilled employee will ensure tht workers will not be exploited. This amount must be commensurate with the cost of living in Singapore. At the moment, many of the working poor are not paid decent wages, making life for them a grinding misery. If the trend of income disparity continues to widen, society will be rendered asunder as inequality takes its toll. Not only will minimum wage legislation help to avert this crisis, it will also guarantee thta prosperity is shared by all.
Unquote

Click here to find the source of this quote.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: wow

So well articulated

Dr Chee writes very well .He has better writing skills than the bulk of the PAP ministers making millions of dollars.

In 2 paragraphs , he has described the sad state of affairs of the poor and linked the idea of minimum wages .; February 08, 2010 7:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Why we must always be cheap?
Haven't we progressed and more advance than many other countries like Philipines, Burma, Indonesia, India,Vietnam, Cambodia,Malaysia, Thailand ...etc?
Being more advance than those named countries, we should have a premium.Why are we lowering ourselve to compete with them?
Why our million dollar ministers don't have better ideas and plans other than making ourselve cheap?
Are cheap things good?; February 08, 2010 7:16 PM
Anonymous said...: The irony is that S'pore's ministers and superscale officers are the highest paid politicians and civil servants in the whole wide world.

But for the majority of Singaporeans, we officially have the lowest purchasing power parity among developed countries and also work the longest hours.

E.g. A HK worker can afford the same kind of everyday "stuff" with 1 hour of work compared to SG worker who needs to work 2.5 hrs for the same purchasing power. I.e. Hongkie has 250% more earning power.

In fact, even the average employee in Shanghai has slightly better earning power on a purchasing parity basis. About 20% more.

Basically what it means is that taking Cost Of Living into consideration, the bottom 50% of Sinkies are very VERY underpaid.; February 08, 2010 8:24 PM
Anonymous said...: I admire Dr Chee's courage and tenacity.

However I have the feeling that he is fighting losing battles and for a long time too.

Maybe he needs to review his battle strategies, in particular to learn from the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tze's art of war.

To win a battle not only courage but a good strategy is needed.; February 08, 2010 9:02 PM
Anonymous said...: I too admire Dr Chee's courage and tenacity. However I do not call for him to change his strategies because I feel he has been doing right and valid things.

What is not so right is a dictator who is out to destroy a strong opponent through bullying tactics, AND a selfish and unappreciative majority who condone such bullying and therefore complicit in such abuse.

What these selfish majority needs is a large dose of injustice to wake them up.

Will the current influx of foreigners serve this purpose? I think probably not yet. Perhaps when the majority lose their jobs to the foreigners and has to sleep in the parks...; February 09, 2010 10:23 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: I agree with 10:23 PM

I do not wish to judge Chee Soon Juan's approach, as he has his reason to do what he thinks best. It will be difficult for other people to judge that he has adopted the "wrong strategy". Remember that the media will not report his side fairly.

I prefer to look for the positive aspects of what he does, i.e. he is willing to speak out for the people who are disadvantaged. I hope that more Singaporeans will see him in this light, so that our society can be fairer and more compassionate.

I dislike the characteristic of many Singaporeans who are selfish and concerned only of their self interest. I hope that more people will be able to view the wider interest of society.; February 09, 2010 10:32 PM