Lim Swee Say on “sorry state” of Singapore cleaner
November 8th, 2009 | 
Author: From our Correspondent
For the second time within a week, NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say had spoken up on the plight of low-income workers in Singapore. Mr Lim had earlier urged companies to restore pay cuts imposed during the economic downturn.
At a seminar held a few days ago, Mr Lim recounted the sorry state of an office cleaner who quit last month after she had enough of pay cuts, longer working hours and loss of benefits in four of the five times a new cleaning firm took over the contract.
The 58-year-old’s monthly pay did increase over her more than 10 years of service – but only from $370 to $400. Her experience is common among cleaners, security guards and other low-wage workers.
There is no minimum wage in Singapore and employers are given a free rein to determine the wages and working hours of their workers.
The median wages of low-income workers have not increased by much over the last decade due to the relentless influx of cheap foreign labor who help depress their wages.
Singapore workers at forever at the losing end because there are no independent trade unions to represent their interests.
Under the unique “tripartite” system promulgated by the ruling party, the rights of ordinary workers are subsumed under NTUC which is always headed by a PAP minister.
Under the country’s repressive laws which make even a solo protest anywhere on the island (except Hong Lim Park) illegal, Singapore workers are not even allowed to voice out their unhappiness publicly let alone exert pressure on their companies to increase their wages.
Mr Lim Swee Say can afford to “sway” here and there without ever achieving a better deal for the workers as the big businesses and companies are not obliged to restore the pay cuts.
Besides the low pay, the CPF contribution rates of employers are reduced from 14.5 to 10.5 per cent when workers reach 50 years of age. They are also entitled to reduce their pay after they exceed 60 years old.
MM Lee Kuan Yew said during a ministerial forum lately that he is not too concerned with Singapore’s widening income gap so long the government continues to create jobs for Singaporeans.
It is not known if MM Lee is aware of the fact that a monthly salary of $850 is hardly sufficient to support oneself in Singapore let alone $400.
With the continued rise in the cost of living, Singapore workers are struggling to keep themselves afloat. As such, some of them turned to loansharks for financial assistance leading to the proliferation of illegal money-lenders.
Not only are unskilled workers poorly paid, young graduates are also finding it hard to start a family of their own with their meager wages.
The starting pay of an engineer is only between $2,400 and $2,800 a month. Arts graduates have to contend with administrative jobs which sometimes pay less than $2,000. Young lawyers and doctors seldom take home more than $5,000 a month in their first few years of practice.
Though Singapore has one of the lowest income tax in the world, the lack of adequate social welfare benefits coupled with the failure of CPF as a retirement fund discourage Singapore couples from having more children.
The declining birth rate necessitates the government to boost Singapore’s population via mass immigration which contributes to the sky-rocketing prices of HDB flats thereby exacerbating the problem.
Perhaps it is time for Singaporeans to have a rethink of the ruling party’s “growth-at-all” cost policy instead of a “citizen-first” policy to ensure the rights of Singapore citizens.
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44 Responses to “Lim Swee Say on “sorry state” of Singapore cleaner”
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If LSS is truthful in the way he feels he could
(a) Set a minimum income
(b) Be very selective about letting foreign workers coming into S’pore.
As usual he is only paying lip service.
Vote out the PAP.
Is it correct that cpf scheme allows withdrawing about $300 per month for retirees?
If so, is that sufficient in such a high cost city in Asia?
what kind of Quality of Retirement can be derived from $300 per month , i wonder?
Will prices be hiked again?
Why not allow cpf holders who retire to withdraw more of THEIR hardearned money?
Thanks for offering us news that we might not otherwise be able to access. However, you do need to improve your sub-editing – I have noticed numerous grammar and spelling mistakes. Take this article for example: the past tense of ‘quit’ is indeed ‘quit’. Not ‘quitted’.
In paragraph 4, I think your writer meant to write ‘minimum wage’. Minimal wage means something quite different and would, in fact, imply the opposite condition exists.
I think the Temasek Review will benefit greatly from an improvement in the area of sub-editing and I look forward to the results.
It is time for Change. Singaporeans must unite and vote for Change so that no Singaporeans will be left behind.
He must be sleeping on his job. This is nothing new to cleaner. Obviously clear sign that election is coming and he needs to do a little wayang of concern for the lower income group.
friedman is dead, a belief in free markets taken to the extreme is as bad as a belief in state planning taken to the extreme … there ought to be social assistance where appropriate but the ruling party has free market ideology stuck in their heads
it is time for change, vote them out!!!
Will the million dollar minister and his colleagues reduce their salary? He is talking rubbish! His “Sorry state” comments are just sound bites – to “placate” the masses; to be seen to be doing something. How do you expect a cleaner to survive on $400 a month? I am sorry mate, he is definitely not worth the million dollar salary he paid himself!
//janetnt
I could not believe you prefer lss as your minister than anything else.
The point about graduates is very true. I still remember the starting pay for a fresh EEE graduate 10 years ago was S$2700. It has continued to remain so till today. Masters with 3 years experience in EEE will fetch S$3000.0. All along inflation has had a free reign.
do you think it would be possible to convince everyone who earns more than $50k a year give $1k a year to people who are jobless? what would the reaction be if the govt mandated it? say if you are that person earning $50k, would you allow the govt to do that?
because that is essentially what social assistance is. govt take from the taxpayers and give to those who receive social assistance.
of course we can always say that we should pay our Minsters less and with that money give to those in need, etc etc. so basically we would need very capable people to be Ministers and be paid not a lot. any volunteers to be Ministers from amongst the readers of TR then?
//Fiona Chan Mah Lee
this kind of retirement monies is peanuts compared to the retirement monies the ministers are drawing:
at least 100K a year.
And they dare to tell us to look at things from a perspective.
They should have told us not to look at all.
fpc. wow i haven even posted here yet and you already responded to me.
Since i have not read what LSS said, i cannot comment. This lousy TR article didn’t even give me a link to understand the background of the story. I have to google first..
anyway U r misquoting me and offering ppl a misleading view of me.
I stated in my other post that I prefer someone BETTER then LSS. I am against the notion of ANYTHING BUT LSS. U mean a fish monger stand for election vs LSS, i have to vote for the fish monger? -.-”
y not ask that change guy who keep posting his one liner to go run instead then i decide if i wanto change to him -.-
change must come, but what change and change from where, change by who? this are the question we need to ask and answer together not separately.
p.s Deng Xiao Ping change is a diff change, its a change from within the party..
This shameless double-talker pseudo laborer chief, who can’t even comb his hair and only care about how much money is in his CPF and bank accounts, is really a big disgrace to the Labour Movement, to the PAP and to all Singaporeans.
On the one hand he is talking about the sorry state of affairs of the cleaners, while on the other he wants Singaporean workers to be cheap, better and fast.
What a fxxking fork tongue hypocrite! Always pretending to care for the workers, but in fact only cares for the employers, the government and himself!
What Tripartite nonsense!
The concept of “tripartite” is for checks and balances, not for ganging up to legally or leegally cheat the weak, powerless and rudderless workers and literally make them into modern slaves just to serve the millionaire masters and their cronies, ball-carriers and hatchet men and women.
Singaporeans wake up! Cast your precious vote wisely. Make this shameless great pretender become ‘cheaper, better, faster’ in the next election!
//janetnt
as if in democracy, one decides changes within a small group?
//rc
as if the govt is not doing something like that?
It imposes cpf life on people.
If you sign up for the max monthly payout but you die before 65, your dependents get nothing. All the monies goes to the state.
And they decide how much the others are going to get from that pool of monies.
They could effectively held it up based on some actuarial reasons which how many of us really know for sure is the true.
The situation in S’pore is simple:
the govt basically didn’t want to put in the effort to get poor people to take up jobs that pays a minimum subsistence level.
the fact that basic required education is low doesn’t help these group of people, who probably had left school early.
So far, we heard govt telling people that it needs to charge more tax to fund poor people’s subsidy but what have we seen concretely that they have done.
They took the monies already.
But what have they done to help these people that were different from previous govt’s effort.
Nothing positive.
They reduced the number of people who can qualify and give a bit more to poor people that qualify.
Some of their criteria are ridiculous too.
And they have jobs for fts… not the bankers, not the lawyers, doctors, but the fts that serve in the construction of mrt lines etc.
What a joke.
If this were to happen in the western world, you would have riots long time ago.
It didn’t happen in singapore because any singaporeans group of more than (what) 5 is against the law.
the simplest way to help these poor people to give them jobs.
Teach them a skill.
Give them an initial push.
how could you learn effectively when you are always worried about food and rent?
Do we see this kind of actions from the govt?
No!
We only see many fat rats going around the world, telling grandmother stories.
And now, we heard our Goh cock talk telling people that he considers have special areas for new immigrants.
I don’t know what got him to say that?
To save monies for the integration fund? so that if these new s’preans don’t want to integrate, we just go in and lock them out or chase them away?
Or to protect them from the scrutiny of old singaporeans who anyway is going to die off.
This govt has no ideas. They only know how to open and close taps.
and the reasons they like to do that is because they really have too much monies at their disposal and they are lazy to think of something else.
It is sickening to think that our people is going to vote in this group of clowns in the next election.
For the women in question and for such other men and women,it is a question of a decent living but for the minister and many other bosses,it’s a credo of greed…don’t hoard,it doesn’t really help the economy…you know what i mean?!!!
…”Singapore workers at forever at the losing end because there are no independent trade unions to represent their interests.
Under the unique “tripartite” system promulgated by the ruling party, the rights of ordinary workers are subsumed under NTUC which is always headed by a PAP minister….”
THAT IS SO TRUE ISNT IT? HAVING HALIMAH JACOB AND SWEE SAY REPRESENT WORKERS INTERESTS? ISNT SHE PART OF THE GOVT? THEY MUST BE CONFUSED. MY FELLOW BLOGGER SAID IT BEST –”On the one hand he is talking about the sorry state of affairs of the cleaners, while on the other he wants Singaporean workers to be cheap, better and fast.”
THE SYSTEM IS RIDDLED WITH CONFLICT OF INTERESTS AND HYPOCRISY.
SALARIES FOR THE LOW INCOME HAVE GONE DOWN IN REAL AND NOMINAL TERMS THANKS TO THE POLICIES OF NO MINIMUM WAGE AND COPIUS HIRING OF FOREIGN WORKERS. PRIMA FACIE, THE NOTION THAT A JOB IS BETTER THAN NO JOB SOUNDS LOGICAL BUT IF THAT JOB PAYS YOU LESS AND LESS AS TIME GOES BY, I’M NOT TOO SURE ABOUT IT.
LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND
A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS ETC ETC
ALL ELECTION TALK. UNBRIDLED FREE MARKET HAS NOT SHOWN TO BE THE PANACEA FOR THE ECONOMY. AT THE END OF THE DAY, DIDNT GOVERNMENTS HAVE TO INTERVENE TO PREVENT A GLOBAL IMPLOSION?
GOVTS HAVE A ROLE IN THE ECONOMY AND SOCIET AND THAT IS TO LOOK AFTER THE WEAK, OLD AND SICK. UNADULTERATED CAPITALISM OF THE FORM BEING PRACTISED WHERE EMPLOYERS HAVE A FREE HAND TO HIRE AND FIRE NEEDS TO BE RE-LOOKED.
NOT EVERTHING CAN OR SHOULD BE MEASURED BY $ AND CENTS
Other than his song and dance act of “Upturn the downturn”, I honestly can’t remember what else LSS has done. Not sure why he is being paid multi millions but Singaporeans have themselves to blame for putting him into parliament.
Hope we can correct this oversight in the coming elections.
“Deng Xiao Ping change is a diff change, its a change from within the party..”
You have let out a Freudian slip – those entrenched in heady power claims change can only come within the party. They say -Join us – change your destiny from within the party. Saw what happened to some people when they do that? Sooner or later the pigs look no different from 2-legged human beings.
some people hear only what they want to hear and keep on parroting the official line – the voices for changes needed are so loud and clear in TR, TOC and other forums. Perhaps only people who thinks ST LIFE section is more interesting deliberately ignore valid arguments, pretend not to hear and keep mouthing the same tired rhetoric – spinning furiously like MSM to support the govt even tho black is white.
We just need one good person in the MP to stand and says he/she is giving up 50% of his/her salary because he/she believes that the gap between the wages are unjust. Then the snowball effect will come.
@John Cheong,
Like you, I too am perturbed by the lack of sub-editing and proof reading of the main articles here, resulting in repeated instances of substandard English and grammar in the news articles.
However, it seems the powers that be at TR are content to let this issue slide by them.
@English Writer
Hi i think you are breathing down the wrong necks!!!
I think all bloggers including yourself understand fully in
in no measured manner the MESSAGE that all articles
in this blog strive to bear forth and that is TRUTH!
English may not have been superb here but that’s not the point!
Why try to hide truths as in MSM and ST by trying to sound
good only and conceal truths…might as well go and write
a novel and make more money that way!!!
Don’t attempt to go a petty fault-finding escapade,this is
serious stuff for serious-minded and civil-minded Singaporeans
and i sincerely hopr that you are one???!!!!
It is a shameful act by swee say . why is he lamenting on the suffering state of the poorer section of the population. He knew it all along and he is not putting in the right policy to correct this imbalance. he is disgusting.
How come no UPTURN THE DOWNTURN for this poor sorry cleaner?
She seems to be DOWNTURN with every UPTURN of foreign influx.
@ English Writer
you are a damn fool !! is that correct english ??
@ English Writer, you should really be spending more time reading the shitty times and not TR.
At least you’ll find Making A Loss at Shitty Times being called ‘Negative Wealth Added’ instead of the poor and non-proofread TR articles simply calling it ‘losses’.
“Like you, I too am perturbed by the lack of sub-editing and proof reading of the main articles here, resulting in repeated instances of substandard English and grammar in the news articles.”
Why are you perturbed ? Did anyone force you to visit TR ? (or maybe you are by your instigator ! ). Of million sites, you choose to target TR for its lack of English standard ? Are you unsound like your master ?
貓哭耗子假慈悲
@English Writer on Mon, 9th Nov 2009 11:07 am
You only wrote a few lines and this????
…..it seems the powers that be at TR are content to let this issue slide by them…..
Did you flushed your puny “dessicated coconut” down the toilet bowl just before you wrote this masterpiece of perfect English?
I provide tuition in TOEFL. Are you a foreigner? It will cost you more than your wallet can bear. Hope you won’t cry.
A minister earn about 1.5m per year. For a person who earn $800 per month, it will take 157 yrs to reach it. Minister’s pay is not cheap, better and faster in term of overall performance. PAP is the govt and it will remain in power after every election. Only 2 opposition is allowed to survive. So where got logic.
I would not be surprised if election be held next month, last month of 2009.
Else it would be within 1st quarter.
But then hor, these are my guess guess only.
can or not?
I would not be surprised if election be held next month, last month of 2009.
Else it could be within 1st quarter.
But then hor, these are my guess guess only.
can or not?
All you guys know is to complain ….
This is Singapore, you have no rights, no voice, and PAP doesnt hear you …
Well, LSS has consistently speak up for the less privilege and ordinary workers. He reminds me of people like Mr. Hon sui sen and Mr. Ong Teng Cheong who contribute selflessly without seeking any recognition nor credit and I just don’t remember him ever complaining about Singaporeans being choosy or a complaining lot. Although, I am not a fan of the current batch of policy holders, I believe LSS is one exception!
John @ friedman is dead, a belief in free markets taken to the extreme is as bad as a belief in state planning taken to the extreme … there ought to be social assistance where appropriate but the ruling party has free market ideology stuck in their heads
Fully agreed, anything to the extreme is hardly good! You dont take a thousand vitamins in a day, nor do you run a thousand kilometres in a day and surely, you don’t make out a thousand times in a day!
The government does NOT take the plight of the lower wage earner seriously. It’s growth at all cost policy sickens me. The influx of foreign workers/ citizens will sustain the economy for the time being but it only hides the symptoms – the true ‘illness’ (if we can call it that) is that the cost of living in Singapore is too high and Singaporeans are not willing to procreate. Wages are pushed downwards and there will be further cost increases.
Are we going to import citizens forever?
I remember the government spoke of needing a 6.5 million population. So are we over the next few years going to import 1.5 million more?
hi all,
when the PM,MM said singaporeans need to work until 65-75, it is directed at them, value, period.
the first blame should be directed at lim boon heng, the biggest crony of them all, period.
second blame goes to the manpower minister, always shifting the goal post, from 8 hours to 10 and now 12 hours shift, pay, same, companies run with temasek, or the peoples’s tax money gets a bigger say and cut, plus bonus, subsidy…..so that they can start business not on level playing field, but greater higher playing field to beat those mnc’s from….you know…..
We Singaporean are all working like shit to sustain the pay of these silly ministers, which only know how to talk cock sing song to reduce our pay; while their pay are ever increasing. Our pay simply cannot match the skyrocketing price of housing here in Singapore. We may have to be contented to live in Pulau Ubin liao! Who will you vote for in the next election, seriously??
Consider carefully again yea!
The usual Lim Say Say style.
No action, talk only. What is he going to do to help those poor Sinkie cleaners???? Will he lead a workers’ strike against cheap foreign labour????
Or will he keep quiet and continue to draw his millions every year??
Lim “Buay” Swee Say
Talk also cannot talk properly with his horrible englisshh.
Bloody NTUC is a waste of time, controlled by who else LKY.
Workers in singapore have no rights, the polices only benefit the employers, everything is wayang one..KNNCCB
I hope and pray LKY’s demise is coming soon, then there will be democracy!