Mark Lee admits that most of his workers at Old Town White C
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Originally posted by likeyou:
PRC begin to be picky on jobs.
they just act blur - absorb everything and i fo -
Foreigners boost Singapore economy, says PM Lee
From AFP.
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Foreign talent and migrants in Singapore give the economy an extra boost, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Sunday amid worries among locals that they are losing out to the newcomers.With Singapore’s small population base, relying on local manpower resources alone will not be enough, Lee said in his key annual policy speech broadcast on television.
“We allow in foreign workers and new immigrants because doing so will benefit Singaporeans,” Lee said in Mandarin.
“Our economy has become more vibrant and diversified because of foreign workers.
“Without their participation, there will not be enough Singapore workers to grow the economy.”
Foreign migrants’ contributions also extend to the sporting arena, where the women’s table tennis team, made up of China-born nationals, had guaranteed Singapore would win at least a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics by reaching the final, Lee said. Singapore later took the silver after defeat to China.
“Outside of economics, foreign talent also strengthens our ranks in sports. So we cannot rely only on local talent,” he said.
Singapore’s only other Olympic medal came at the 1960 Rome Olympics when weightlifter Tan Howe Liang won silver.
Singapore had a population of 4.59 million in 2007, including more than a million foreign workers and their families.
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Singapore’s only other Olympic medal came at the 1960 Rome Olympics when weightlifter Tan Howe Liang won silver.
Already 50 yrs, when will we have Olympic medals won by local athletes?
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world cup also no chance to see
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PRC NTU students on govt scholarship applying for job positions in China instead of Singapore
February 25, 2010
According to a reader who worked as a HR manager in a company based in China, when he put up a job advertisement to hire locals (mainland Chinese) for a few engineering positions in Shanghai, he received a deluge of resumes from PRC NTU students instead.
“I have got 78 PRC China national resumes on FREE Singapore Govt sponsor scholarship expecting to graduate from NTU this March. All of them already got a work permit and are allow to apply for PR within 2 month of working in Singapore. But these 78 PRC NTU students are not finding a jobs in Singapore, because jobs position is in Shanghai. They are planning to get a free scholarship and head back to China upon graduation, not planning to come back and without serving the bond,” he wrote.
Quite a number of the applicants are on the Dean’s List. We have attached here two of their resumes:
The scholarship these students are holding is the Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship Programme which only Singaporeans (excluding Singapore PRs) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens are eligible to apply.
The terms and conditions include:
- The Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship Programme covers tuition fees and provides an annual living allowance of S$5,800. For PRC citizens, an annual accommodation allowance (pegged to the lowest room rates) as well as one-way airfare at beginning of course and two-way air return passage upon graduation will be provided.
- The scholarship is tenable for the minimum period of candidature for the respective undergraduate course at NUS.
- This scholarship is tenable for any course leading to a first degree, except Medicine and Dentistry, Nursing and Music. Only Singaporeans (excluding Singapore PRs) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens are eligible to apply.
- There is no scholarship bond attached to the Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship. PRC scholars are required to take advantage of the Tuition Grant Scheme and serve a 3-year Tuition Grant bond under the Scheme upon graduation.
[Source: NUS Office of Admission]
Despite the generous terms offered to PRC students studying in Singapore institutions, an increasing number of them prefer to return to China and further their careers rather than staying on here.
In a Gallup poll done in July last year, the top three emigration destinations for college students in China are the United States, France and South Korea. Singapore was not featured within the top five.
One PRC student we know told us that though he earn slightly less in China (RMB), the cost of living is comparatively lower there and he is closer to home with his families and friends
Another still find it harder to adapt to the lifestyle in Singapore after spending six years here.
“The culture in China is very different from Singapore. Though Singapore is predominantly a Chinese society, the locals here have a completely different mindset from the Chinese (in China). The motherland is always a home in our hearts,” he said.
A common trait among mainland Chinese is that many of them are strongly patriotic about China. They would rather offer their services to China than to swear allegiance to Singapore.
A PRC national and Singapore PR by the name of Zhang Yuanyuan sparked an outcry last year by proclaiming her loyalty to China proudly on a Chinese television.
Many Chinese nationals from Singapore universities have since returned home including a famous broadcaster from CCTV who came to study in NTU in the 1990s.
With China becoming an economic power to reckon with, the brain drain will reverse in the next few years as Singaporeans flock to China in search of new opportunities and challenges.
As for the Singapore government which has been happily sponsoring the education of these PRC students, it is unlikely that they will get any returns on their investments when even the top students are abandoning Singapore for “greener pastures” in China.
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Disgruntled Singaporean pleads with PAP to “give us a break”
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/02/25/disgruntled-singaporean-pleads-with-pap-to-give-us-a-break/
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Uniquely Singapore: PAP ministers raising their own pay by a hefty 8.8% ahead of the next election
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Marina Bay IR have recruited 1,500 “Singaporeans and PRs” as card dealers
February 26, 2010
With doubts and skepticism spreading among Singaporeans whether the IRs are indeed employing more locals than foreigners, the Marina Bay Sands IR had issued a public statement that it will be hiring some 5,000 people to fill various positions in hotels, restaurants and retail front.
A Straits Times report proclaimed loudly that the casino posts “have all been filled with some 1,500 dealers, all of whom are Singaporeans and permanent residents.”
As expected, the exact number of Singapore citizens employed is not revealed to the public.
It is quite pointless to include PRs in the picture as they are not citizens and do not give an accurate portrayal of the number of Singaporeans who really benefitted from employment opportunities offered by the IRs.
The majority of the 1,500 dealers can be PRs and not citizens. Furthermore, they may be foreigners who are “fast-tracked” to take up Singapore PR.
According to accounts given by Singaporeans who visited the Resorts World Sentosa casino, it appears that the majority of its staff are foreigners though it claimed that “70 per cent of the jobs went to Singaporeans and PRs.”
It is very easy for the IRs, media and Manpower Ministry to reveal the exact number of Singapore citizens and foreigners (including PRs) who are employed. Why are they so reluctant to reveal the truth?
Their continued reticence and silence on the matter seems to suggest that there may be more foreigners than citizens being employed by the IRs.
This is hardly surprising as the IRs have put up job ads specifically in countries like Taiwan and Philipines though many of the positions on offer can be easily filled by Singaporeans.
Are Singaporeans being discriminated openly in their own country? Are foreigners benefitting at our expense?
Unfortunately, there is no way Singaporeans can exert pressure on the ruling party to shed more light on the matter as there is no opposition in Parliament to check on them.
Until Marina Bays IR published the exact percentage of citizens versus foreigners employed by it, Singaporeans should take future such reports from the state media with a heavy dose of salt.
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Top 10 reasons why Singapore is the BEST place to work in for foreign migrant workers
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Average Australian weekly wage rises nearly six per cent while Singaporeans income decline in 2009
February 26, 2010
According to a report in the Herald Sun, the average weekly wage in Australia is now AUD$1226.70, after rising by 5.9 per cent in the year to November.
The quarterly seasonally-adjusted pace of average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) rose two per cent in the three months to November, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed.
In contrast, the median monthly wages of ordinary Singaporeans have remained stagnant at $2,600 while the median household income of Singaporeans decreased by 2.5 per cent after adjusting for inflation from $4,950 in 2008 to $4,850 last year.
[Source: Singapore Department of Statistics]
At the same time, the cost of living in Singapore has sky-rocketed, especially that of public housing which hit a record high last year despite the economy being mired in recession, fueled by rising demand from immigration in the face of limited supply of new flats.
While life for the average Singaporean has not improved, the PAP ministers, already the richest in the entire world, found fit to raise their salaries by 8.8 per cent this year on the back of an expected improvement in the economy.
A certain percentage of their salaries is pegged to GDP growth figures – the higher the growth, the more money they bring home, but GDP growth is hardly an appropriate or accurate indicator to measure the economic performance and quality of life in a country, as pointed out by many prominent economists including Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph Stilgitz.
Singaporeans will not begrudge their ministers a pay hike if they perform half as well as the Australian ministers who earn much less than them.
A minister of Singapore earns more than 5 times the annual salary of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Despite widespread unhappiness and discontent on the ground, there is little Singaporeans can do as the ruling party controls 82 out of 84 seats in Parliament, enabling its lawmakers to pass legislation as it wishes often with no consultation with the people.
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Foreigners raised Singaporean wages challenged by Jeyaretnam
http://sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/392054
PRC technician not keen to take up Singapore PR and plans to return to China
February 23, 2010
Despite the desperate attempts of the PAP to entice mainland Chinese to take up Singapore PR and citizenship to boost the population of ethnic Chinese in Singapore, it appears that even the non-professional PRC workers are shunning Singapore.
In a Gallup poll done in July last year among China college students, their top three immigrations are the United States, France and South Korea. Singapore was not even featured among the top five.
Since the floodgates are opened, a large number of mainland Chinese have flocked to study and work in Singapore with some of them settling here eventually, but with China becoming more developed and prosperous, the number may decrease with time.
Sichuan Daily News interviewed a PRC lady from the province who worked as a technician in Singapore. She had obtained “NITEC” certification here which enables her to take up Singapore PR. (read article here)
However, she said she is not interested to stay on in Singapore and planned to return back to her hometown in China after picking up some technical knowledge and skills here.
Singapore’s strongman Lee Kuan Yew boasted that the government is very “selective” about who it gives PRs and citizenships to though it is strange that Singapore needs to import technicians as “foreign talents” from China.
In other countries, only highly qualified professionals or rich businessmen are given PRs, but in Singapore, it is not unusual to see technicians, cleaners, construction workers and even prostitutes obtaining PR relatively easily.
According to figures from the Home Affairs Ministry, every two out of three PR applicants are successful. There were more than 70,000 PRs in 2008 alone.
There are some schemes which allow foreigners from certain places like Hong Kong and Taiwan to obtain Singapore PR without even setting foot here.
Being a first world country, Singapore should be able to attract talented immigrants with relative ease, but they seem to prefer Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other democratic states though they have much tighter restriction on immigration.
The PAP should seriously reflect on why even the mainland Chinese are not keen to settle down in Singapore permanently instead of throwing precious taxpayers’ monies into the sea to make them feel “welcomed” here.
www.heraldsun.com.au
Average Australian weekly wage rises nearly six per cent in 2009
From: AAP
February 25, 2010 12:48PM
THE average weekly wage in Australia is now $1226.70, after rising by 5.9 per cent in the year to November. <!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_introduction) --><!-- // .story-intro --><!-- google_ad_section_start(name=story_body, weight=high) -->
The quarterly seasonally-adjusted pace of average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) rose two per cent in the three months to November, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed.
This was a sharp acceleration on the 0.9 per cent quarterly growth recorded in the three months to August, lifting the annual rate well above the Reserve Bank of Australia's perceived "line in the sand" at 4.5 per cent.
Still, the composition of the AWOTE series tends to make it volatile, which is why the RBA prefers to use the wage price index - released yesterday - as one of its main guides to wages growth.
That index showed growth of just 0.6 per cent in the three months to December with the annual rate slipping to 2.9 per cent, a nine-year low.
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Originally posted by speak:
Average Australian weekly wage rises nearly six per cent while Singaporeans income decline in 2009
February 26, 2010
According to a report in the Herald Sun, the average weekly wage in Australia is now AUD$1226.70, after rising by 5.9 per cent in the year to November.
<!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_introduction) --><!-- // .story-intro --><!-- google_ad_section_start(name=story_body, weight=high) -->The quarterly seasonally-adjusted pace of average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) rose two per cent in the three months to November, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed.
In contrast, the median monthly wages of ordinary Singaporeans have remained stagnant at $2,600 while the median household income of Singaporeans decreased by 2.5 per cent after adjusting for inflation from $4,950 in 2008 to $4,850 last year.
[Source: Singapore Department of Statistics]
At the same time, the cost of living in Singapore has sky-rocketed, especially that of public housing which hit a record high last year despite the economy being mired in recession, fueled by rising demand from immigration in the face of limited supply of new flats.
While life for the average Singaporean has not improved, the PAP ministers, already the richest in the entire world, found fit to raise their salaries by 8.8 per cent this year on the back of an expected improvement in the economy.
A certain percentage of their salaries is pegged to GDP growth figures – the higher the growth, the more money they bring home, but GDP growth is hardly an appropriate or accurate indicator to measure the economic performance and quality of life in a country, as pointed out by many prominent economists including Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph Stilgitz.
Singaporeans will not begrudge their ministers a pay hike if they perform half as well as the Australian ministers who earn much less than them.
A minister of Singapore earns more than 5 times the annual salary of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Despite widespread unhappiness and discontent on the ground, there is little Singaporeans can do as the ruling party controls 82 out of 84 seats in Parliament, enabling its lawmakers to pass legislation as it wishes often with no consultation with the people.
AUD$1226.70 a week!!!
What they make in a week, we make in a month.
And Singapore has a higher GDP per Capita than Australia.
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A Singapore man’s unhappy experience with a PRC lady
The below email has been circulating around in cyberspace and was forwarded to us for publication. For those of you who knows the identity of the author, please keep it strictly confidential.
Please forward this to all your male Singaporean loved ones and friends. This is something that actually happened to me and I feel that it needs to be shared. I believe my experience will help your male loved one stay out of trouble.
On the morning of 18th February at about 9.50 am I was standing at Coffee Bean (Novena Square) counter, ordering my usual cup of mocha latte before heading into the office as usual. Behind me was a row of leather cushions that the mall has provided. In the corner of my eyes, I noticed a middle aged Chinese lady with an umbrella and a cold storage plastic bag, looking really nervous, glancing around every now and then.
The lady had shoulder length hair tied up neatly in a pony tail and looked pretty plain, wearing just a normal t-shirt and jeans – nothing too revealing. She was about mid 20s to early 30s and pretty pleasant looking I must say. But her eyes were scary when she stared intently at me for a short moment I did not pay much attention to her as I thought she was waiting for the slimming centre to open. I carried on my business as usual, glancing through the Today newspaper.
As I made my way towards the direction of Banquet coffee shop, she stood up and walked towards my direction. What happened next caught me completely by surprise.
The lady stopped directly in front me of, stared at me and suddenly screamed “Why you touch me?” Only then did I realise from her unmistakable accent that she is from China. I said “Sorry? What are you talking about?” I was more in shock then angry. The first thing that came to my mind was, is this some woman that I accidentally brushed on the train this morning?
She did not bother to explain but kept on screaming and pointing her index finger at me “Why you touch me!” about 4 or 5 times. She then squatted, covering her face and cried, crying out over and over again that I had touched her. I was really lost. There were some people walking past me and I felt like a criminal standing there, while people gave me this disgusted look. All the while I was trying to talk to the China lady but she remains in a squatted position, covering her face and crying.
At this point of time, a Malay bang in light blue coloured uniform walked over from Banquet. Seeing the situation he asked me what happened. The lady stood up and said that I had “touched” her. She then told the Malay bang that I need to giver her $500 to “see doctor” or else she would report me to the Chinese Embassy. She took out her hand phone and took several photos of me.
The Malay bang then said, “Bro, I think we better call the police”.
At this point of time, I have gotten over my shock and anger was slowly taking over. I nodded to the Malay bang in agreement. I took out my hand phone too. But instead of taking her photo, I dialled 999 immediately. “I am calling the police myself. Let them settle the matter”. I said calmly to the both of them. At this point of time, she picked up her plastic bag and umbrella, and swiftly left towards the direction of Tan Tock Seng hospital – even before my call could connect!
We were left there puzzled. Somehow I was relieved that it was over and did not want to proceed with the call. The Malay bang asked me if I was ok. All I said was “Thanks”. He patted my shoulder and walked away towards the
direction of Coffee Bean. Several patrons inside banquet were already witnessing the commotion. I just wanted to get out of there.In case something like this happens to you or your loved ones, do not make the same mistake I did, trying to console the woman. Immediately take out your hand phone, take a photo of her and call the police. Please help to
spread this around to our Singaporean husbands, sons, brothers and friends.Please, my dear Singaporeans, look around you, what has happened to our country? Where have all these pests come from? Think about your loved ones and your other Singaporean friends. Forward this story and make sure that
they know what to do when the same thing happens to them. -
Who pays for increase in foreign workers’ levy?
The hike in foreign worker levy may affect a company’s bottomline but consumers too will feel the heat.
“If we are in business we can’t keep on absorbing costs without raising prices, that’s the reality.” -
Singaporeans outraged at PAP for providing free tertiary education to PRC scholars for them to work in China
Two days ago, we published an article on PRC NTU scholars applying for positions back home in China instead of Singapore which has sparked an outcry in cyberspace. (read article here)We were tipped off by a reader who worked as a HR manager in China who received 78 resumes from PRC NTU students on government scholarships for positions in Shanghai, some of whom are on the Dean’s List.
The stunning revelation sparked a series of discussion threads in Singapore’s blogosphere with many netizens lampooning the ruling party for its pro-foreigner policy.
Some questioned why locals have to serve National Service while foreigners are given free scholarships to study at Singapore universities sponsored entirely by taxpayers’ monies.
Shutterx from Hardwarezone forum wrote:
“for 4yr engrg prog, what each china student gains and does not hv to contribute back:
[figures are approx]4yrs of full school fees = $33k * 4 = $132,000
on-campus housing = $10,320
4yrs of living allowance = $23,200
3 air tickets of $500 each = $1500
TOTAL = $167,000meanwhile, every SG kkj must go thru NS/ICT/RT to ’serve the nation’ and pay ur CPF/income tax…ur life is cheaper
may I suggest that our govt gives them FREE s’pore woman, FREE wedding dinner and a FREE flat, maybe more of them will stay here.”
gwzc wondered why local scholars are publicly shamed for bond-breaking while PRC scholars are allowed to get away “scot-free”:
“I still remember last time got some scholars break their bonds to join the private sector. tio flame and shame on national news like no tomorrow. now leh?? how many of these tiongs had come here on taxpayers’ monies/ tution grants/ scholarships to snatch places in our universities then run back to their countries when they finish their studies??”
Tsuteki summed it up nicely:
“1 thing can say Local is dirt and FT is treasure. full stop”
Over at Channel News Asia forum, netizens are equally incensed.
paladin126 wrote it’s true that the Singapore government has sponsored the tertiary education of PRC students:
“It is quite true that Sing Govt sponsor education of PRC students and gives them allowance of $500 per month. When I was in uni, my allowance from parents was less than that, and I just served NS. The next statistics we need is the percentage of PRC student who leave without fulfilling their bond because they have to work in Singapore for 3 years after their sponsored education.”
Molvis felt the government should have invested on its own citizens:
“Don’t be stupid….do you really think they will be grateful? Such money should be spent on Singaporean instead.”
Damnit added:
“Many using Singapore as a stepping stone including getting Singapore passport to apply for PR/Citizenship elsewhere. And the worse part is that the Singapore Government acknowledges this fact but hopes that many will fail and so “forced” to stay in Singapore. How did we as a nation end up being so pathetic? Don’t need Ah Tiongs to tell us we are stupid, our Gov. policy on this matter speaks for itself.”
Most of the comments are directed at the PAP rather than the PRC scholars. Some Singaporeans claimed that they would have done the same if they were in their shoes. After all, who doesn’t want a free lunch in this world?
Unfortunately, it appears that the PAP leaders are still blissfully ignorant of the reality on the ground.
PAP’s strongman Lee Kuan Yew said in an interview with the National Geographic magazine lately that it is a “good thing” that Singapore has welcomed so many Chinese immigrants (mainly from China) who are more “hard-driving” and “hard-striving” than locals.
Despite the desperate attempts of the PAP to attract mainland Chinese to study, work and live in Singapore, an increasing number are shunning the island state for other countries after witnessing for themselves how shabbily it treats its own citizens.
In a Gallop poll done in July last year, the top three emigration destinations for college Chinese students are United States, South Korea and France. Singapore was not even featured within the top five.
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Why the hike in Foreign Worker Levy will benefit the govt more than ordinary workers
February 24, 2010 Temasek Review
The recent move by the ruling party to increase the Foreign Worker Levy will only go to increase the coffers of the government without benefiting the ordinary workers, both Singaporeans and foreigners alike.
Under the new scheme, most Work Permit holders will have their rates raised by between $10 and $30 this year while those in manufacturing and services will see their levies rise by an average of $100 at the end of the three years.
Levies for S-Pass workers will increase from the current $50 monthly to a maximum of $250 by July 2012.
The ruling party claimed that the move will deter employers from hiring foreigners and encourage them to provide more employment opportunities to locals.
If this is really its intention, then it should follow the example of Australia and make it more difficult for companies to recruit foreigners by raising the quota for Singapore workers and pegging the levy to the difference in wages between locals and foreigners.
In all likelihood, the inadequate measures taken were no more than a “wayang” to placate angry Singaporeans that it is doing something to protect their interests.
Take for example an IT enginner – a local will command a monthly pay of between $2,500 – $3,000. A company can offer a foreigner $1,500 – $1,800 and he/she will still take up the job. The maximum $250 levy for S Passes will do nothing to encourage the employer to hire a local as it will still “save” much more by employing foreigners.
Furthermore, there is no way to stop unscrupulous employers for passing the higher cost of employing foreigners to the workers themselves thereby putting them in a vulnerable position of being exploited.
For foreigners who are desperate to land a job here in Singapore, they will not protest against having their basic salaries cut just to “make up” for the hike in Foreign Worker Levy.
At the end of the day, the employers will not be affected by the hike in the levy as their profit margin will remain the same.
The same numbers of foreign workers will still be employed at a lower cost while Singapore workers continue to face discrimination in their own country.
Ultimately, it is the government which will be the greatest beneficiary as it is expected to rake in more levies from the employers.
If the government is serious about reducing Singapore’s dependence on foreign workers and to boost productivity, it should stop the issuing of S passes completely.
Foreigners on these passes usually compete directly with Singaporeans for jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them and they do not add value to Singapore except decreasing labor costs and increasing the profits reaped by their employers.
Strict restrictions should be imposed on work permit holders – only industries and sectors which are unable to employ Singaporeans are allowed to employ foreigners and for each foreigner employed, a levy amounting to the difference in pay between a foreign and local worker should be paid.
At the same time, a minimum residency period of 2 year should be mandated before foreign workers can apply for Singapore PR.
The “low” employment rate of 3 per cent for Singapore is highly misleading as both Singapore citizens and PRs are lumped together under the same category “resident”.
For purposes of clarity, the Manpower Ministry should put PRs in the “foreigner” category in all its guidelines and regulations.
Under the current rule, a company needs to fulfill a quota in the number of “local” workers (including PRs) before they can hire foreigners which is easily circumvented by companies getting earlier arrivals of foreign workers to take up Singapore PR.
As Singapore PRs are easily granted within a few months, this enables them to artificially increase the quota thereby freeing more slots to employ foreign workers.
For example, a company with a staff comprising of 20 per cent citizens, 50 per cent PRs and 30 per cent foreigners is able to meet the quota with ease though Singaporeans remain in the minority.
Some of these PRs will go on to compete with Singaporeans in other jobs after they leave their parent companies who apply the Singapore PRs on their behalfs.
An electronic firm in Singapore was known to have applied Singapore PRs for its PRC workers who are unable to speak a single word of English. Surprisingly, most of their applications are approved within a year. The marketability of these PRC workers are therefore enhanced and they have few problems finding another job in Singapore after they left the company.
The most incredible part of it all – these PRs are sent for “retraining” too under the Job Credits Scheme last year sponsored by Singapore taxpayers!
Unless wholesale changes are made to Singapore’s employment and immigration policies, the hike in Foreign Workers levy will not moderate or slow down the inflow of foreign workers into Singapore.
Perhaps that’s the real aim of the ruling party after all – to keep the foreign workers coming without jeopardizing its chances at the next general election.
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Raising foreign worker levy will not solve problems, say critics
By Wong Chun Han
Raising the foreign worker levy will not reduce Singapore’s dependence on foreign labour or raise productivity, but will increase the financial burden on workers and employers, social workers and analysts say.The levy hike – part of the government’s plan to raise productivity and control the influx of foreign labour – will not work, critics argue, as employers will pass on the additional costs to their foreign workers, thereby diminishing any incentive to switch to hiring Singaporeans.
“In the past, whenever foreign worker levies were increased, a lot of employers simply just passed on the increases to their workers, either by cutting their pay or reducing their benefits,” said financial analyst Leong Sze Hian.
Wages for locals working or seeking jobs in foreigner-dominated sectors would fall correspondingly, leaving unsolved a fundamental social problem – stagnating salaries for low-income Singaporeans.
This in turn hinders any attempt to raise labour productivity, he said. “If you’re struggling to make ends meet, how could you be motivated to raise your productivity?”
Companies hiring foreign workers are required to pay levies at rates dependent upon their industry type, the workers’ skill levels, and the number employed as a proportion of the company’s total workforce.
Changes to the levy, which includes raising rates and adjusting the tier system, were announced Monday by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam during his budget statement in Parliament.
They will be introduced over five phases over the next three years, starting 1 July this year.
The government meanwhile has downplayed potential negatives. Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong told MediaCorp on Wednesday that the levy hike’s impact on businesses would be “minimal”, as long as employers tap into schemes designed to support their productivity drives.
Concerns over the hike’s effectiveness were first raised earlier this month, after it was proposed by the Economic Strategies Committee in a report.
“Unless it was a massive increase, a rise in the levy would be unlikely to discourage employment of foreign workers,” wrote John Gee, president of social service organisation Transient Workers Count Too, in a letter to the Straits Times dated 5 February.
The levy “would just be an increased tax on foreign labour employment”, which “is likely to increase burdens on employers and workers without achieving its stated goal,” he added.
Foreign workers – many of whom work in very low paid jobs in construction, marine, manufacturing and service industries – would suffer the most as a result. The levy hike “will very likely lead to a rise in cases of employers attempting to deduct money from workers’ salaries on dubious pretexts,” Gee said.
Despite laws forbidding such practices, dishonest employers often cut costs by taking money, or ‘kickbacks’, from workers’ salaries. These ‘kickbacks’ are disguised on pay slips as authorised deductions, such as utility bills, food expenses and loans.
“Employers passing on business costs to their foreign workers is something that is pretty common in Singapore,” said Jolovan Wham, a social worker at the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics.
This is because employers are savvy enough to not leave any paper trail or substantial evidence that can lead to prosecution, he explained.
Rather than raising the foreign worker levy, the government’s aims – helping low-income Singaporeans and mitigating exploitation of foreign workers – may be better served by the introduction of a minimum wage.
Setting minimum wage conditions would make workers “feel more fairly rewarded and salary levels in some sectors might start to look a little more appealing to locals,” Gee wrote.
Wham believes that a minimum wage policy would be more effective in reducing labour exploitation.
“I’ve seen a worker who was given a basic monthly salary of $330 only,” he said. “The point of legislating one is to provide legal remedies for unscrupulous employers who grossly exploit low wage workers with little bargaining power.”
“The minimum wage can be pegged at a level that is affordable to the majority of employers, and be subject to periodic review by the National Wages Council,” Wham suggested.
However, he conceded that it is a move the government is unlikely to make, due to concerns over its negative impact on labour costs and investor sentiment.
“The minimum wage is a very blunt instrument,” said Leong, who is president of the Society of Financial Service Professionals. “You don’t give any flexibility to companies and sectors to remain competitive.”
An alternative is to direct some of the levy receipts into the Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme, he said.
Leong estimates that current government receipts from the foreign worker levy to be over $1 billion annually, which could rise over $3 billion once all the scheduled changes to the levy system come through by July 2012.
He suggested that WIS payouts, 71 per cent of which are funneled directly into workers’ Central Provident Fund accounts, could instead be made entirely in cash. This would directly improve salaries for many low-income Singaporeans, provide greater incentives to raise productivity.
“It’s not that people don’t want to take on certain jobs, but that the pay is simply too low and they can’t survive on them,” Leong said.
The changes to the foreign worker levies
Starting 1 July, levies will be raised for most Work Permit holders from between $10 to $30.
The tiered levy system will also be tightened – in manufacturing for instance, the lowest tier for firms employing up to 40 per cent foreigners will be reduced to 35 per cent, with the middle tier adjusted accordingly to range from 35 per cent to 55 per cent. The highest tier for the manufacturing sector remains at 55 per cent to 65 per cent.
Manufacturing and service companies can expect a total levy increase of about $100 per foreign worker on average, while the construction industry will see higher hikes, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
The graduated hikes and adjustments to the levy tiers will be phased in every six months until July 2012.
Employers will also have to fork out more for S Pass workers – mid-level skilled foreigners drawing fixed monthly salaries of at least $1,800.
The system will be expanded to comprise two tiers effective 1 July. The S Pass worker levy will become $100 and $120, rising from the current single rate of $50.
The rates will be raised every six months thereafter, until they reach $150 and $250 by July 2012.
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Uniquely Singapore: PAP ministers raising their own pay by a hefty 8.8% ahead of the next election
February 25, 2010
Temasek Review
With public anger boiling over its disastrous policies which have affected the livelihoods of many Singaporeans, one will expect the ruling party to reduce or at least freeze the salaries of its ministers to soothe frayed nerves, especially with the next election around the corner.
It is therefore most incomprehensible, outrageous and disgusting that it will be giving its ministers, senior ministers of states and parliamentary secretaries a massive 8.8 per cent pay hike when the majority of Singaporeans are either retrenched, unemployed or having their pay cut.
According to a TODAY report on 23 February 2010:
“Salaries for political appointments – ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries – are estimated to be $58.28 million, or 8.8 per cent higher than last year.”
[Source: TODAY]
Since a certain percentage of the Singapore ministers’ multi-million salaries is pegged to GDP growth figures, the salary hike is not surprisingly with the Singapore economy expected to grow by 4.5 to 6.5 per cent this year.
While it may be technically and procedurally correct to do so, most Singaporeans will find it hard to stomach another round of pay rise for their multi-millionaire ministers again given their dismal performance over the last few years.
What have they done exactly to justify their obscene salaries?
As Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stilgiltz has correctly pointed out, GDP growth is a very poor indication of the quality of life enjoyed by citizens in any country.
Singapore’s astronomical GDP growth in the last decade is fueled largely by the influx of cheap foreign labor and few safeguards for local workers which help keep labor costs down and therefore increasing the GDP as a result.
It does not take a genius to realize that GDP figures can be manipulated artificially and neither do Singaporeans need to pay millions of dollars to their ministers to do so.
Though Singapore’s GDP growth has been impressive, the fruits from the growth are not shared equally among all Singaporeans.
The income gap between the rich and poor has widen considerably saved for the last two years due to the global financial crisis which decimated the earnings of the very rich.
The median wages of Singaporeans remain stagnant at $2,600 monthly while the cost of living, especially that of public housing has sky-rocketed.
At the same time, the quality of life has declined – Singapore is the only first world country to be ranked outside the 50 most desirable places to live in the world in a survey conducted by International Living.
According to a UBS report last year, Singaporeans have the lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea though Singapore workers clocked the longest hours at work weekly.
We have a standard of living which is closer to Russia than Switzerland and many Singaporeans cannot afford to retire as their salaries are low to begin with and the bulk of it is tied up in mortgage loans for over-priced public housing.
From the escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri, the $8 million dollar investment loss suffered by the PAP Town Councils, over-crowding caused by too many foreigners, astronomical HDB flat prices to the lack of social welfare benefits for Singaporeans when the government can afford to lose billions of dollars saving foreign banks, all of these have the marks of incompetence, impotence and ineptitude stamped on them.
Do the PAP ministers seriously think they deserve a pay higher than that of U.S. President Barack Obama?
After mismanaging Singapore and screwing up our lives big time, the PAP has demonstrated to us once again with its unimaginative Budget this year that it is fast running out of ideas to govern Singapore.
Without reforming Singapore’s obsolete political economy dominated by its state-linked companies, there is no way for R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive in Singapore and for us jump-start our economy ahead the likes of China and India.
As Singaporeans are ultimately paying their salaries, the ruling party has the moral responsibility to justify to us why its ministers and senior civil servants deserve a 8.8 per cent pay rise when most people are simply struggling to get by.
It should come up with a KPI for each ministry and reveal to the public how the performance of each individual minister are being assessed.
Ministers who fail to perform up to standards and public expectations should be removed including the Prime Minister himself.
In addition, it is time to re-formulate the method used to derive the salaries of the ministers.
Instead of pegging it to the top six earners in society and to GDP growth figures, it should be brought down to more reasonable levels comparable to other first world countries like United States, Australia, Canada and Great Britain.
It makes no sense that the Singapore Prime Minister or a Senior Minister for that matter is being paid more than the combined salaries of the leaders of the G7 nations or a Minister of State earning much more than the President of China, the leader of a nation of more than one billion people.
If the PAP ministers have to be paid such high salaries to prevent them from being “corrupted”, then there is no difference in them being “corrupted” legally.
Where is the sense of public service in our PAP ministers?
Even if all their salaries were halved, they would still be more than enough to enable them to afford a decent standard of living in Singapore.
The fact that they dare raise their salaries ahead of the next election shows how confident they are of romping home with another electoral victory again.
Singaporeans should register their displeasure clearly when the time comes to”encourage” the PAP ministers to “revise” their salaries downwards by making them lose a few seats in Parliament.
There are plenty of talented Singaporeans who will be keen to serve the nation at a fraction of their cost if not for the PAP’s control and dominance of the political landscape here.
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Uniquely Singapore: PAP ministers raising their own pay by a hefty 8.8% ahead of the next election
February 25, 2010
Temasek Review
With public anger boiling over its disastrous policies which have affected the livelihoods of many Singaporeans, one will expect the ruling party to reduce or at least freeze the salaries of its ministers to soothe frayed nerves, especially with the next election around the corner.
It is therefore most incomprehensible, outrageous and disgusting that it will be giving its ministers, senior ministers of states and parliamentary secretaries a massive 8.8 per cent pay hike when the majority of Singaporeans are either retrenched, unemployed or having their pay cut.
According to a TODAY report on 23 February 2010:
“Salaries for political appointments – ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries – are estimated to be $58.28 million, or 8.8 per cent higher than last year.”
[Source: TODAY]
Since a certain percentage of the Singapore ministers’ multi-million salaries is pegged to GDP growth figures, the salary hike is not surprisingly with the Singapore economy expected to grow by 4.5 to 6.5 per cent this year.
While it may be technically and procedurally correct to do so, most Singaporeans will find it hard to stomach another round of pay rise for their multi-millionaire ministers again given their dismal performance over the last few years.
What have they done exactly to justify their obscene salaries?
As Nobel Prize laureate Joseph Stilgiltz has correctly pointed out, GDP growth is a very poor indication of the quality of life enjoyed by citizens in any country.
Singapore’s astronomical GDP growth in the last decade is fueled largely by the influx of cheap foreign labor and few safeguards for local workers which help keep labor costs down and therefore increasing the GDP as a result.
It does not take a genius to realize that GDP figures can be manipulated artificially and neither do Singaporeans need to pay millions of dollars to their ministers to do so.
Though Singapore’s GDP growth has been impressive, the fruits from the growth are not shared equally among all Singaporeans.
The income gap between the rich and poor has widen considerably saved for the last two years due to the global financial crisis which decimated the earnings of the very rich.
The median wages of Singaporeans remain stagnant at $2,600 monthly while the cost of living, especially that of public housing has sky-rocketed.
At the same time, the quality of life has declined – Singapore is the only first world country to be ranked outside the 50 most desirable places to live in the world in a survey conducted by International Living.
According to a UBS report last year, Singaporeans have the lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea though Singapore workers clocked the longest hours at work weekly.
We have a standard of living which is closer to Russia than Switzerland and many Singaporeans cannot afford to retire as their salaries are low to begin with and the bulk of it is tied up in mortgage loans for over-priced public housing.
From the escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri, the $8 million dollar investment loss suffered by the PAP Town Councils, over-crowding caused by too many foreigners, astronomical HDB flat prices to the lack of social welfare benefits for Singaporeans when the government can afford to lose billions of dollars saving foreign banks, all of these have the marks of incompetence, impotence and ineptitude stamped on them.
Do the PAP ministers seriously think they deserve a pay higher than that of U.S. President Barack Obama?
After mismanaging Singapore and screwing up our lives big time, the PAP has demonstrated to us once again with its unimaginative Budget this year that it is fast running out of ideas to govern Singapore.
Without reforming Singapore’s obsolete political economy dominated by its state-linked companies, there is no way for R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive in Singapore and for us jump-start our economy ahead the likes of China and India.
As Singaporeans are ultimately paying their salaries, the ruling party has the moral responsibility to justify to us why its ministers and senior civil servants deserve a 8.8 per cent pay rise when most people are simply struggling to get by.
It should come up with a KPI for each ministry and reveal to the public how the performance of each individual minister are being assessed.
Ministers who fail to perform up to standards and public expectations should be removed including the Prime Minister himself.
In addition, it is time to re-formulate the method used to derive the salaries of the ministers.
Instead of pegging it to the top six earners in society and to GDP growth figures, it should be brought down to more reasonable levels comparable to other first world countries like United States, Australia, Canada and Great Britain.
It makes no sense that the Singapore Prime Minister or a Senior Minister for that matter is being paid more than the combined salaries of the leaders of the G7 nations or a Minister of State earning much more than the President of China, the leader of a nation of more than one billion people.
If the PAP ministers have to be paid such high salaries to prevent them from being “corrupted”, then there is no difference in them being “corrupted” legally.
Where is the sense of public service in our PAP ministers?
Even if all their salaries were halved, they would still be more than enough to enable them to afford a decent standard of living in Singapore.
The fact that they dare raise their salaries ahead of the next election shows how confident they are of romping home with another electoral victory again.
Singaporeans should register their displeasure clearly when the time comes to”encourage” the PAP ministers to “revise” their salaries downwards by making them lose a few seats in Parliament.
There are plenty of talented Singaporeans who will be keen to serve the nation at a fraction of their cost if not for the PAP’s control and dominance of the political landscape here.
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GLC Employee AL: What do we do with a government that operates on failures?
The Singapore government preaches about materialism and performance under all odds.
Like in all cases, performance relies on morale. How does the PAP, expects us to go the extra mile, to work harder, to excel when we’re being paid crap? When the cost of living is not manageable, when most of us are at the “Hand to Mouth” state? When our minds are not at peace thinking about our future, or are we machines to work relentlessly without feelings?
Our bread and butter being threatened by so many issues, being afraid we might be left with just breadcrumbs to deal with. In the battlefield, if you shatter the enemies’ morale, the battle is as good as won. Morale is a catalyst for productivity, and let no one tell you otherwise.
The value of materialism which the government upholds with such valor has not been helping anyone at all. It separates us, each man fighting for his place among the top 5% of Singapore which is “physically and mentally endowed”.
This “fighting” does not create growth, but merely a social gap between citizens and an income gap which rewards only the “elites”. The growth of a few individuals, acts only as a morale destroyer for those hanging in the lower rungs of society.
Materialism makes those up there, want to stay there and go higher, and the only way to do that is to keep pushing those already low, lower.
We all know that the Singapore government has a system in place, which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. How can there be true growth and productivity in this system? This is not a classic case of wanting more for less, but wanting gold for copper.
The government has made a system, preached ideals and has expectations which all contradict each other, an epic failure. It’s like wanting a person to move left, right and back all at once. Have they done anything to fix it? I don’t think so. That means a failure every day they don’t. How long has this been going for? Years, that means 365 failures X the number of years. A government that operates on failures.
“Applause please”
Its pretty annoying when we’re overworked, underpaid, fatigued and frustrated, and some “PAPimp” ministers who don’t even have a clue about wha thet majority of Singaporeans are going through, comes along yapping about how we should live our lives and do our jobs.
Actually we should be the ones teaching them how to do their jobs, and deciding how much they get paid. Technically speaking they are serving the public, that makes us their bosses right?
So if we’re bosses and our staff are not performing as promised what should we do? What must we do, if even after all these decades, their PERFORMANCE is not only not up to standard, but actually deteriorating? What if they’ve made too many human errors in their years of service? What should we do, when our staff orders us around, when they arrogantly tell us how to run the business after all these failures? Are we still going to keep them in our payroll?
There are 82 PAP MPs in parliament now and seriously, who knows what they’re there for? Maybe we should cut the amount of manpower we have in the government and give them the wages majority of us get.
The rationale, “Oh! I know! Lets make Singapore attractive for Singaporeans who have migrated elsewhere! And to make this country to keep in pace with other countries where THE GOVERNMENT IS AFRAID OF ITS PEOPLE AND NOT THE PEOPLE AFRAID OF THE GOVERNMENT!”.
I would love to see the looks on their faces when these cowards look at each other with the phrase “overworked and underpaid” grabbing them by their nuts. When we, the people of this country start showing them who’s boss, and the time is coming soon.
The math is pretty simple: The lower the wages and the higher the cost of living, the lower the morale. The lower the morale, the lower the level of productivity. Not, rocket science at all. If the government still can’t figure it out they don’t deserve their salaries and positions. We should just fire them.
This is a quote from a 62 year old man I’d like to share with you guys and finish up this piece:
“How to retire, you tell me? Need to work until die la, some more cut my pay but need to work the same. Never mind! You cut my pay $300, I work $300 less. Mai Chup Siow!”
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Originally posted by ANGEL 7030 "A":
Foreigners boost Singapore economy, says PM Lee
From AFP.
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Foreign
talent and migrants in Singapore give the economy an extra boost,
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Sunday amid worries among
locals that they are losing out to the newcomers.With Singapore’s small population base, relying on local manpower resources alone will not be enough, Lee said in his key annual policy speech broadcast on television.
“We allow in foreign workers and new immigrants because doing so will benefit Singaporeans,” Lee said in Mandarin.
“Our economy has become more vibrant and diversified because of foreign workers.
“Without their participation, there will not be enough Singapore workers to grow the economy.”
Foreign migrants’ contributions also extend to the sporting arena, where the women’s table tennis team, made up of China-born nationals, had guaranteed Singapore would win at least a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics by reaching the final, Lee said. Singapore later took the silver after defeat to China.
“Outside of economics, foreign talent also strengthens our ranks in sports. So we cannot rely only on local talent,” he said.
Singapore’s only other Olympic medal came at the 1960 Rome Olympics when weightlifter Tan Howe Liang won silver.
Singapore had a population of 4.59 million in 2007, including more than a million foreign workers and their families.
How come newspapers never have a headline that states "Singaporeans boost Singapore's economy?"
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Indian new citizen/PR told Singapore NSman complaining about foreigners to make himself more “marketable”
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Dishonest Foreign Workers, how do u feel when u know they r stealing $$?
http://flowerpod.com.sg/forums/Dishonest-Foreign-Workers-t88798.html
ST: Foreigners “integrating” into Singapore as more of them are joining dating agencies to find “love”
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Singapore lawyers and (maybe) dentists to face competition from cheaper foreigners soon
March 2, 2010
Engineering used to be an attractive profession for Singaporeans in the 1990s till the ruling party allowed the entry of large number of foreign students to study engineering in local varsities and foreign engineers, some of them only technicians to take up jobs otherwise reserved for Singaporeans.
Today, the starting median wages for fresh engineer graduates have remained stagnant for the last few years. Their predicament may soon befall the legal and (maybe) dental professions.
Since the ruling party has opened the doors for entry of foreign-trained lawyers to the Singapore Bar last year, foreigners now make up 20 per cent of the number of practising lawyers in Singapore.
There are already 923 foreign lawyers registered to practise here, according to the Attorney-General’s Chambers in a Straits Times article today. Foreign law firms here have grown from 85 in 2008 to 98 last year.
Though foreign lawyers are not allowed to practise Singapore law now, new rules will be introduced next year for them to do so. Foreign lawyers who are PRs here and with at least two years’ work-related experience need do only one part of the Bar exam to qualify, followed by at least six months of training unless exempted.
As usual, the Straits Times tried to paint a rosy picture about the expected competition faced by Singapore lawyers by spinning a story that the presence of foreign lawyers will create more “opportunities” for local lawyers.
It quoted the example of a Canadian lawyer Ms Ciambella expressing her wishes to start her own boutique law firm and hire Singapore lawyers to substantiate its claim.
Besides the legal profession, it appears that even the dental profession in Singapore may open its doors soon to foreign dentists.
According to a dentist we know, the CEO of a dental group in Singapore has been persuading the Ministry of Health to permit his group to employ foreign dentists due to the shortage of “manpower”.
These foreign dentists are likely to cost less than half of that of Singapore dentists and will greatly drive down labor costs thereby increasing the group’s profit margin.
If the dental profession is liberalized, the medical profession may be next. There are already large number of foreign doctors working in public hospitals and the polyclinics. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed lately that one in three doctors in Singapore graduated from a medical school overseas.
Singaporeans should realize that there are no “iron rice bowls” in Singapore, be it lawyers, dentists or doctors so long the pro-foreigner PAP remains in power.
In the old days, parents often encouraged their children to take up law, medicine or engineering in universities to secure a good future, but it no longer holds true nowadays given the easily availability of cheap foreign labor and the reluctance of the ruling party to protect the interests of Singaporeans.
As the last few years as shown, though the inflow of foreigners have boosted GDP growths artificially thereby increasing the pay of the PAP ministers, the gains from Singapore’s economic growth did not filter down to ordinary Singaporeans.
The cost of living has sky-rocketed, especially that of public housing, wages have remained stagnant, income gap has widened considerably and the overall standards of living has declined.
Unless the professionals wake up from their slumber and vote out the PAP in the next general election, they will soon find themselves competing with foreign doctors, dentists, lawyers and engineers for a meager pay not commensurate with their status in the near future.