Singapore recruitment agency offers jobs for foreigners ONLY
November 11th, 2009 | 
Author: From our Correspondent
A Singapore recruitment agency posted on its website a list for jobs for foreigners, but locals need not apply!
Allied Manpower is a licensed recruitment agency in Singapore which claims to provide services in human resources and manpower management. It has over 29 years of proven experience in foreign recruitment.
It offered a list of jobs for foreigners which can be easily filled by locals:
As we can see from above, the jobs are offered only to specific nationalities such as Filipinos and Chinese nationals.
Of late, senior cabinet ministers have stepped forward to defend the government’s pro-foreigner policy.
MM Lee repeated the circular argument that foreigners are needed to take up jobs shunned by Singaporeans without which Singapore’s economy will stagnate:
“Look at the Integrated Resorts. (On the) rooftop, not one (construction) worker there is a Singaporean. (They are) China Chinese and the Indians. If you don’t have that, where’s the IR, and the 10,000 jobs (they will create)?” he asked in speech made at a grassroots event last week.
Opticians, art teachers, beauticians and website designers are hardly considered as jobs shunned by Singaporeans. In fact, many locals will be keen to take up such jobs.
The Singapore Polytechnic offers a three-year course in Optometry which is popular among students. Are Filipino opticians more highly qualified than ours?
Saved for the positions of IT support analyst and opticians, the other jobs offer pay of less than $1,500.
For a local website designer, $1,200 is surely too low a salary, but it is more than enough for a Chinese National who has no family here. Convert it to RMB and he will take home more than RMB$5,500 a month, far more than what he makes in China.
Again, there are many qualified Singaporeans who will be interested in applying to become an Art teacher if not for the meager pay of $1,200.
Imagine if you are a diploma or degree holder, will you consider taking up such a job?
Instead of addressing the real concerns on the ground, the government has chosen to put the blame on Singaporeans for being too “choosy” about their jobs.
The relentless influx of foreigners, especially the semi-skilled workers, has led to increased competition for the limited jobs in the labor market.
Singaporeans often have to accept lower pay and longer working hours out of fear of being replaced by foreigners who generally have fewer demands.
Despite the widespread unhappiness and resentment among the citizenry at its immigration policy, the ruling party is adamant that foreigners are needed to keep the Singapore economy growing.
There is no minimal wage in Singapore. Neither are there any social welfare benefits for those who are retrenched or unemployed.
Singapore’s population just cross the 5-million mark this year out of which 36 per cent are foreigners. This means that for every person you meet in the streets, he/she is likely to be a foreigner.
The ruling party is able to force its unpopular policies down the throats of a subservient citizenry largely because there is no opposition in parliament to check on them and it controls all important state institutions.
In Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and other Asian democracies, citizens are able to gather and protest in the streets to show their frustration and anger against their governments.
In Singapore, even a peaceful solo protest anywhere on the island except Hong Lim Park is illegal under the law.
The lack of public expression of dissent helps the ruling party to recycle and perpetuate the myth through the state media that it is a “popular” government which have the “support” of the people to introduce these laws and policies.
Unless Singaporeans wake up from their long slumber and reclaim their civil and political rights as citizens of their country, they will forever be subjected to the mercy of the ruling party.
Related articles:
>> MM Lee urges Singaporeans to bear with tide of foreigners
>> Singapore Indian shocked at daughter being a minority in Indiank indergarten
>> SM Goh mused about allowing immigration enclaves in Singapore
>> PR asked ungrateful Singaporeans to wake up
>> Singapore PR complained that Singaporeans are not proud of their country
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Businesses would like to save costs by cutting as much costs as possible.
But this is getting too far – cutting wages to earn as much as possible.
This wouldn’t do, even the skilled professions like doctors.etc are all filipinos now at some polyclinics.
Every company likes to cut cost. But if this carries on, every company in every sector will do the same, and in the end, only cheaper foreigners will get the job. We Singaporeans will starve and go poor due to lack of jobs.
For every job, no matter being a road sweeper or a doctor, with a foreigner, a local is displaced. Nobody is spared no matter which sector you are in.
Now tell me, especially you pro-PAP as-holes. You may be rich and may be employed now. Just tell me what will you do if you are replaced with a cheaper foreigner.
We have to change any governments, especially if a government is going bad to worse. You stooges have to understand that there is no good government in the world that will never be changed. The only one I can think of is the one Kim is running in North Korea. Do you want that?
When the government shows no respect for the locals, what do you expect from a profit-making private organization ? Can such advertisement be found in other countries ? PAP government keeps avoiding the immigration issues by giving examples of jobs shunned by the locals but did they make an attempt to study cases where the jobs are wanted by the locals but not getting it despite being qualified ??? In addition, is the salary fair based on the cost of living here ? Is the government expecting us to accept salary good enough for third world salary but live in increasing expensive Singapore despite being paid a salary beyond the imagination of politicians in other countries ????
It’s a vicious cycle which will only magnify the statement “SGporeans are choosy”.
It seems some people just don’t understand how this kind of action pushes the wages down.
Here’s my interpretation. Feel free to correct if I’m wrong..
1) Initially, employer are willing to pay decent but not so high salary for the locals.
2) It’s not high but can survive.
3) Government artificially create a supply of people who are willing to take home very low wages.
4) Employer realize they can pay less for these new group of people.
5) The initial group of people now find it harder to accept such pay, not because they are choosy, but because they’ve been artificially lowered until it’s not realistic to survive on that amount.
Imagine no such scenario:
1) Initially, employer are willing to pay decent but not so high salary for the local grads (diploma/Uni).
2) It’s not high but can survive.
3) Supply runs low, but new grads come along.
4) To secure the supply, employer will pay same or even higher due to basic rule of Supply & Demand.
5) You may be thinking, then the price will only rocket! But c’mon, there’s inflation, and as time goes by, everything gets adjusted accordingly.
6) What we have today is everything going up as per normal, but wages don’t!
Thanks to our dear govt, we now have an artificially lowered wages and artificial competition.
If they are so smart in supply and demand, why not instead increase supply of land for HDB flats? And yes, I mean land for HDB, not private homes… see what they have done.. so “smart”.. kuku ah…
I think the positions are for some gahment ministries and statutory boards. Now they only employ foreigners.
I liked the one that says “Beautician – for Chinese National only” , “Massage skill and can do sales”. Hmmm … I wonder what type of sales are they talking about here?? Sleazy !!
People of my race have all along been discriminated against when finding jobs because employers prefer to hire “bilingual” (Mandarin speaking) people.
Now, I’m enjoying what’s happening because you guys will get a taste of what we have been through.
Ha ha haa…
People of my race have all along been discriminated against when finding jobs because employers prefer to hire “bilingual” (Mandarin-speaking) people.
Now, I’m enjoying what’s happening because it’s you guys’ turn to experience it.
Enjoy the discrimination!
Ha haha.
lets try looking at the other perspective. NMC comes over to singpore looking for a place to park its HQ. pay of singaporeans is “low but livable”. suddenly, malaysia says “come on in! our land is cheaper, and our labour is cheaper!” bye bye MNC. so there goes the HQ, and all the OTHER jobs that singaporeans still have in the NMC. haven’t you realised how many “made in ” goods sold in NTUC? the stand is “don’t bring the standard down by limiting the supply, improve yourself such that you’re sure that you’re definitely able to do the job that’s twice as good as a foreign worker drawing half your pay.” remember that we don’t have any fields that we can turn to if we run out of jobs. sitting on your ass complaining that the government is telling you to walk to the food on the table instead of feeding you will get you nowhere.
Only 3 groups of people can make more money in S’pore than they would elsewhere
1) Business-owners
2) Expats
3) Admin Service & above
everyone else had better head for greener pastures!
every foreign companies here must comply with our Labour Law which specifies quota of foreign worker.depending on which sectors, the quota varies; but certainly not without limit.
the idea was to attract business/companies to come n relocate to singapore. we are actually telling them: “look, rather than u park ur capital/business in china, why dont u bring it to singapore; if singapore’s labour too expensive for u, u can bring some PRC here”.
if business come to s’pore, we win.. they pay taxes, some jobs certainly go to s’porean, even the foreign worker they bring here will pay taxes n create/add existing business (ask property agents n hawkers).
but then, of coz, there’ll be some adjustment on the market especially during early days of “liberalization” (if we can call it that). some existing companies will replace their workforce with foreigner.
MOM cannot say that only new business from overseas can employ foreigner, while existing business cannot. It’ll be not fair.
but am sure, in the long run, this policy will benefit us. it’s just that gahmen need to ensure the system is responsive enuf to the economic situation, so that s’porean will not be disadvantaged when times r bad.
//theotherthinker
What you said is only true, if the govt doesn’t put contraints on you.
Nobody does that in any demoncratic country.
Not so blatantly.
There is nothing wrong for business owner to choose lower cost eg hiring ft. The main issue is the government allow the hiring from taking place. Dont blame the business owners.
How come no listng for CBF ministers?…This one i confirm Singaporean cannot fill…because most can earn millions in pte sector
deoxin on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 7:22 pm,
Can you kindly explain how this is going to benefit us in the long run?
All I’ve experienced so far are:
- friends in their 40s can’t get a job, now even 30s considered too old for a regular job.
- overcrowding, to the point that it is more stressful to go outdoors.
- lower standard of living i.e. smaller portions of food and lower quality at higher prices.
- Longer wait for everything from medical care, dental care to HDB flats.
- more expensive housing
- being a foreigner in my own country
Having many foreign workers in Singapore actually push down the real wages down. In public sector like the civil services and statutory board where there is no foreign workers, the real wages remain exceptionally high. Perhaps we should have foreign talents to serve our nation in the public sectors.
With the current wages that the government civil servants are receiving, we can easily employ ex-prime ministers from the western countries to head our ministries here. I believe they are easily better than any one of them in Singapore.
Then perhaps the government will wake up and faced the real challenge.
Citizens are discriminated against in their own land. It’s no different from suffering in the Japanese occupation.
Singapore Citizens out there, it’s time to reclaim what PAP has squandered away:
your employment opportunities,
your children’s education,
your housing,
your money,
your freedom,
your identity,
your pride…
VOTE AGAINST PAP.
@Malay
If you feel that you have been discriminated against because of your inability to speak a language , why can’t you learn the language ?
There are many Indians and Malays who have learnt to speak mandarin or even hokkien . I am chinese and I had learnt some malay from work. Take Mandarin as an alternative working language instead of tying it to the chinese race . The chinese in Malaysia have to learn bahasa melayu to survive and they have done it. Work yourself out of the disadvantage.
If you are discriminated because you are a malay , sorry i can’t offer you any suggestion.
to nocityforoldmen, why don’t you apply your response to Malay to yourself. Why can’t you take a lower wage to get jobs then? Work yourself out of the disadvantage.
Its an agency that specialize in Foreign Manpower, so whys the title making it such a big surprise like that? Its just like other yoga centre, company, services provider etc that specialize in a certain area only. TR sensalitionzing the topic to draw clicks again.
On the other hand, i am surprise that the wages are so low. I doubt even “FT” will apply. Just for the record, i am a supporter of min wages.
Also just notice and is curious, is the managing editor of TR a FT as well?
singaporeans all sign on to become army regulars, LHL and George Yeo can be your Brigade Commanders … that way you will learn to not complain so much, just shut up and follow orders, march around all day and oh yes you cannot vote them out as commanders
SINGAPOREANS WAKE UP, VOTE FOR CHANGE, VOTE OPPOSITION
@ “fake” poster named “Malay”,
This poster is either stupid or old fashioned. Bilinguilism is so yesterday. Nowadays, it’s minimally trilingualism if you want to survive in Singapore. No wonder this poster faces discrimination. His discrimination is not one of race but of laziness and unwillingness to adapt.
@ SmartAlex on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 8:20 pm
They will NOT get foreigners to take over top public service positions.
IT IS SACRED COW POLITICAL TURF that will be disturbed. Who says there is “mafia-crazy” ( “me-li-toe-crazy”) here?
You know what I think will happen here?
In a few years, citizens will lose all the “operational positions” and when the economy tumbles again and employers forced to restructure by downsizing, lot of foreigners will also be forced out and may return to their home countries.
But when the economy recovers after that – employers can’t find foreigners turn to locals BUT THE LOCALS HAVE NO RECENT EXEPERIENCE AND CANNOT HANDLE THE JOB EFFECTIVELY. The employer will also die.
PAPPIES WILL CONTINUE TO EARN THEIR MILLIONS.
Who do you vote whether you are an employee-class Singaporean or employer-class Singaporean?
Pappies is gambling with all SINGAPOREAN LIVES just like the casinos opening soon.
I have had enough of rubbish from PAP.
I am going to vote against PAP at the coming election…….regardless of what propaganda the lap-dog Straits Times churns out!!!!
@smartalex alright, lets demonstrate what happens when we bring singapore to a western government using syonanto’s examples
we get to enjoy NO children’s education, cos it’s not compulsory there
bringing the catered population density back down to the western 450 per km2 instead of the present incredible 4800, we will have 90% homeless
being under a western government, we BELONG to them. yearly tribute and taxes of over 40% to feed the old people’s pension
rampant secret societies and gangs, some holding guns. my freedom of movement is constrained to daylight, crowded places, and home. i’m thinking of feeding myself, no nope, i don’t give 2 flying f**ks about political freedom
well.. granted, we have an identity. called second class citizen. remember the african americans in US
after everything i said above. you think you still have any pride left?
vote against PAP, cos what we are suffering from now, lack of freedom of political choice, is so much worse than what i said above.
anyone convinced?
30 years of speak Mandarin campaigning. now the private sector joins in the fray.
Back in the 80’s, the english educated were shamed for their language disability (being called “banana” et al) for their lack of fluency in Mandarin.
Malay is our National Language. English is supposed to be our common, neutral language. Why can’t this social contract be respected? It is cultural imperialism to be forced to speak another’s language in order to survive. Why is the average S’porean not ridiculed for his lack of Malay-speaking ability? Where is the social and economic impetus to speak Malay as our National Language (as guaranteed in our constitution) ?
The Chinese in M’sia and Indonesia are forced to speak in Bahasa, usually at the expense of their own culture. Malaysian-born Chinese are still regarded as immigrants. Chinese Indonesians, in particular, are forbidden to bear Chinese names in their official documents. Does this justify such an attitude in Singapore? Getting everyone to speak Mandarin in order to secure jobs? Does this imply that we are a Mandarin speaking nation?
@John
Your argument is flawed. Learning a new language will certainly open up new doors and opportunities for one whilst obtaining a job which provides lower renumeration will only serve to close doors and not benefit oneself. Both are changes, except that one is a positive change and the other is simply a negative one.
My question is , is the author Surprised?
My humble understanding from a recent news article is that foreigners who set up business here used to or need not hire too many singaporeans, if any. but correct me if wrong as i only scanned thru it. That is the impression i get.
So, what is so surprising that people hire only foreigners?
They can be cheaper, less kia and can go on contract and depends on the employer to help them apply for employment pass to stay here.
But the majority should not be surprised if my understanding is correct. ‘cos if they are, it means they living in Oblivion.
@all
“my-kong-kor”(don’t talk cock)!
those who sounded so holier-than-thou pro-foreign
workers should pause and see whether they should also
graciously hand over their cushy jobs with cushy paypackets to the foreigners>>>any volunteers…TR CAN TAKE DOWN THE LIST ,I BELIEVE?
S,if you are still holding onto your jobs so tightly,please hold your mouths as tightly too!you have no right-at least under this circumstances,even in a DEMOCRACY- TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF OTHER CITIZENS…YOU GET IT,MORONS?!!!1
Bloody hell… And then people say why you no job in your own country… Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…
Yeah yeah~
I don’t really know how to speak mandarin and I don’t mind picking it up. However, what pissed me off when I was doing my job search was the requirement of mandarin for jobs such as data-entry. I wonder if you really need mandarin for such work and other jobs that requires little interaction.
Hr Ads have gotten a little smarter since govt said ads shouldn’t be discriminatory, they added in “mandarin required to liase with china workers.” So if we’re all required to pick up mandarin, are we saying these china workers do not need to pick up english?
With regards to this article, I think it’s gone a bit too far in “integrating foreigners into the society.” This causes a labour leakage – our own people seeking greener pastures elsewhere. I think our government shouldn’t label our people who are trying to make a living elsewhere a quitter. It’s unfair. If foreigners have a right to work here, we also have a right to choose to work elsewhere. If those who leaves the country and work/live elsewhere are quitters, what about those who left their countries and work/migrate here? Aren’t they quitters too? I don’t understand why should we singaporeans subjected to words like “quitters” and “lesser mortals” – by our government no less!
Stop at 2 campaign started because, even way back in the 80’s Singaporeans were being squeezed and were not able to afford raising a 3rd child.
Now it becomes our fault that fertility rate is too low – not that S’pore is too expensive to raise kids
labour leakage is one thing – think about capital outflows in our local economy. Consider the sheer mass of foreigners and how much of their Singaporean salary is being remitted back to their home country.
Think about how this affect money supply in Singapore.
@syurga_time
Trilingualism? Singlish is still a hot topic these days. Many people are still having trouble speaking good ‘engrish’. How do you expect them to be trilingual? Don’t ‘pray pray’. You must be dumb. Yes, you are. You just don’t realise it because you’re dumb.
We are being robbed in broad day light while the gahmen we voted in who is supposed to be looking after us is cheering them along and tell all of us to support them.
What sort of bloody leaders do we have, how could we have voted in such people in the first place.
We have to wake up, please wake up all of us.
Are such ads are legal? Why don’t you guys walk over to the agency and take it to ask. Its your country and one of your companies doing the hiring.
Some of these ads are clearly dubious i.e. “beautician with massage skills!!” Are Chinese nationals who read English newspapers willing do such jobs? By what criteria are such people allowed to stay in Spore?
BTW , in Singapore jobs were openly classified as ‘Chinese’ only till a few years ago when an Australian lady made a fuss. Then the ads were smartly changed to ‘Mandarin’ requirement.
Even Indians who know Mandarin and turn up for such interviews are rejected. So learning the language does not help in getting a job.
On the other hand many who know Mandarin but not much English work in areas where English requirement is quite vital. (driving instructors, travel agencies, pharmacies). Of late visiting some McDonald outlets is getting quite a challenge without a knowledge of Mandarin.
The situation will get worst after the next GE when policies will be rammed down S’poreans throats. In short, true blue S’poreans are dispensable while we make way for new “appreciative” citizens.
@fair and square well, if they are better than me in what i do, why not? ^^ of course i don’t plan for them to overtake me in terms of ability. i plan to keep upgrading myself to ensure that i’m always better than a foreign worker. can you do that? or to be more specific, are you WILLING to do that? a job is not a right. it’s a privilege. if you think you have the right to keep your job despite other people being better than you, then look who’s the one who is holier-than-thou?
It is interesting, according to ICA to get an employment pass the minimal wage is $2,500 per month and for an S pass its $1,800 per month.
If you look at the wages indicated on the attachment to the article most jobs indicated there are below $1,500.
How on earth are they planning to have these workers work in Singapore unless there are loopholes or employers will falsify documents. Anyone know more about this?
Honestly I am not surprised. In time, we will be a minority and we will just fade away. Vote opposition? Only if we get a chance to vote. Haven voted before. 2 walkovers, i think more walkovers to come.
Hey guys, you all have to look at the issue from a bigger perspective why it has come to this.
In the 70’s the government played up the CPF and used this national savings instrument as a vehicle to drive our growth. The CPF contribution rates were increased many folds as a result of this, and this engine was partly responsible for driving our economy at a rather fast pace.
However, CPF to the government is NOT AN ASSET – it is a LIABILITY as it embodies a promise to return this savings to the workforce contributors at a later period of their life. With the snowballing effect of the increased contribution rates concmmitant with huge salary increases it became a colossal future liability. It was, in this respect, Dr Goh Keng Swee, the then deputy PM, lamented to an insider that “we (the PAP) have created a monster”. His implications were very clear.
The problem we are now facing is, in a way, that already experienced by Japan, an increasing trend of elderly vis a vis a shrinking workforce due to demographic trends. It means more people are withdrawing from CPF, and even at that they are also drawing larger sums (because salaries have skyrocketed) and such withdrawals are drawn from contributions made by the current workforce which is shrinking (with falling birth rates).
Assuming our population is able to generate say another 2 million babies, this would not solve the problem in our immediate future because these newborns will take about 20 years henceforth to be able to contribute to the CPF and the economy. In the meantime, we need piecemeal methods, some sort of instant noodles if you may say so. And that is why they are resorting to induce foreigners to take up citizenship here as a stop gap measure until the effects of our demographic changes can set in.
Be on the look-out. They are going to tell you make more babies very soon. They might even ban condoms to make this drive successful !
@ IsPAPworthsupporting? on Thu, 12th Nov 2009 11:01 am
GREAT POINT. Unless they hired illegal immigrants on tourist visa and WITH SILENT OFFICIAL BLESSING AND CONNIVANCE AS WELL?
This is Adam Smith’s invisible hand at work, supply vs demand.
Also in line with PAP policies, keep wages depressed to maintain the 50% diffence between individual wages and GDP per capita, to attract foreign investments.
Sad state of affairs for the hardworking Singaporeans earning pathetic pay cheques
This is the reality if you are a Stinkapore citizen….many of us have adopted the policy that if you can’t beat them, join them….we businesses have to hire foreigners because they are cheap and some are good…..suggest we all play 2 sides of the ball…since costs have gone up, we have no choice but to hire cheap as they have no connections here….this is the real world….
Looking at the bigger picture….there is no way things are going to change here, not for at least the next 20 years….so I’d suggest you all pack your bags, plan and prepare for your retirement elsewhere and just earn as much as you can in Asia…and I say Asia because its the growth engine for the next 20 years…then retire in Shanghai, Melbourne, Vietnam, US etc……Stinkapore is surely not worth defending
How can they do this? Is the boss a foreigner as well?
I will never use their services.
- To provide better and decent job opportunity for foreigners seeking job in Singapore.
This is one of their missions. The serve foreigners exclusively.
http://www.alliedmanpower.com/about.html
I am saying this not so much for my generation, but for our future generations to come, where will all these end?
Would our children need to compete against cheaper, hungrier foreigners (new citizens, PR, WP, etc), while still having to fulfill their many national responsibilities?
Don’t waste you time here. Head for greener pastures immediately. Singapore is going to become a nation of foreigners with no loyalty to this land. There won’t be any armed forces. The government will have to hire mercenaries. The civil service will be filled with foreigners as well. It will be the most horrible place to live in. It will be a dog eat dog place.
@gave up
you sound really honest!
i just can’t understand why some great mind? up there can’t see
the wisdom;hoard everything in their already more then fatten bank accounts is not good for anybody ultimately.
so what if you produce the best XYZ and provide the best service,who’s gonna buy your goods or services?
how many cars-even branded could or would a rich man buy?
probably one or two for himself,one for his wife,another two for his children and maybe one for his mistress?…that’s not a lot of cars sold by the automobile company!
SAME GOES FOR ALL OTHER STUFFS AND SERVICES…who(how many)spend and you need consumption to spin the economy…this is aged old basic economics-even my great-grand-father understood and had no idea what this ECONOMICS stuff IS ALL ABOUT!
yes indeed,the wolrd has changed but then the wolrd has always been changing,but certain TRUTHS will never change despite strange things like the INTERNNET n GLOBALISATION.
Economies have grown because of good and fair governments.
CORPORATIONS has grown becos they were and are still relevant;and are relevant only becos there are enough consumers to buy their products and services;and the people who buy their products are none other than the WORKERS!
At the end of it all nad inspite of it all,the TRUTH for
continued economic prosperity and growth is dependant on
S H A R I N G with each other and with one another.
So DON’T HOARD,IT DOES NOT HELP YOU NOR ANYBODY,AND MOST OF ALL,THE TOTAL ECONOMY.
Singaporean parent
The answer to your anxiety is conveyed by my earlier posting above (6 places above yours). Perhaps you may want to scoll up a bit to have a look?
In all honesty, the influx of foreigners coming in, pushing wages down creates more jobs for both locals and foreigners. Based on principles of economics, the aggregate demand will be pushed up due to cheaper labour. In theory, with the rise of aggregate demand, prices and your GDP will rise. With the rise of price, peoples’ expectation will rise and wages will rise. (lets ignore the Phillip’s curve first whereby theres a natural rate of unemployment)
But…. that is in theory, the fact is Singaporean workers are at the mercy of their employers. We do not have strong labour unions to fight for the increase in wages. Business people ( most of them ) look at their profits and how to cut costs. Without a strong labour union, the likelihood of our wages to reach an acceptable level is low. Therefore in the long run, I believe that this is very bad for the nation, not to mention the large income disparity current policies are creating.
Besides our location (our key resource), the other would be our human capital. Even with a stable inflation rate, without a constant rise in wages, our people are actually worse off.
( it takes 1 working adult to support a family, now even with 2 parents it might not even be enough ) With all this increased burden on a normal family, what is the likelihood a child and rise above and succeed?
Why I can see the sense of the influx of foreigners, we need to acknowledge the fact that Singapore is a unique country that does not abid to the normal rules of economics. ( eg. we practice exchange rate/credit policies rather than interest rate policies )
It is high time for a change in policies.
PS : I’m doubtful that the government will actually admit there is a need for change. Therefore next GE, they will see my decision.
@fair and square
I agree with you that the current situation is one where the top of the economic food chain is getting fatter at the expense of everyone else.
But that is just human nature isnt it?
Who are we to say that if we ourselves happen to be at the top, that we wont be the ones hoarding or looking for more?
I know i cant say that…. maybe you can
BUT this is why government are formed, they are here to protect society’s weak and downtrodden from being taken advantage of.
I’m not saying government should be for redistribution from rich to poor, but it certainly shouldnt be for redistribution from poor to rich either.
@Jim
The CPF if viewed purely as a pension scheme is indeed a liability, however, in CPF’s case i believe it is a massive asset from the gvernment’s perspective rather than a liability.
The CPF rate of 2.5% is ridiculously low relative to international rates that it used to be trivial to engage in rate arbitrage, even more so in singapore’s case as we run a managed float currency policy, hence further mitigating forex risk.
Furthermore, where else in the world do you have a pension fund unilaterally move the goalposts? The continuing increase of the withdrawal age for CPF monies is now a cultural meme, where the average man in the street now think he’s gotta work till 70,75,80? before he ever sees “his” money.
The CPF fund is a HUGE asset far from a liability.
The situation you describe where more participants are required to pay in to maintain payouts of those before them only applies to grossly unbalanced retirement benefit structures (examples include GM and Ford’s retirement schemes or other US state pensions where civil service workers can receive full last drawn pay – including overtime for the rest of their lives after retiring at 45). In this respect the CPF fund is exceptionally well designed.
The CPF’s liabilities should never exceed its assets as the extent of their liability is never more than a 2.5%-4% interest return. Even in the currently depressed interest rate environment, generating a return in excess of 3+% is trivial considering that long term international rates typically sit in the 4+% range.
The CPF is a liability to the people who pay into it, as they are compelled to “save” a third of their income in a scheme where withdrawal is at the sole discretion of the scheme’s administrators. All the while their savings are being either devalued by inflation (if they choose to “save” it at 2.5%) or are forced to participate in asset markets from where they cannot extract a return until they reach the qualifying age – very much like a casino telling you you cant leave till they say so.
Perhaps government is asking you to accept a low paying job. If you do not accept, you are choosy.
This is what Singaporeans have to face… job discrimination. Local being discriminated in their own land…
Cheap labour what. So?
Cheap labour means cheap products means got business and business goes on.
Better got business than no business, right?
Government cannot fix pay for the private sector in capitalism. Globalisation means cheaper production can sprout outside Singapore and then no employemnt at all. Half a loaf is still better than none. Market determines pay and government can then still hope to collect some tax revenue to pay civil servanst (primarily Singaporeans), for education, subsidise healthcare, etc.
So why blame government? Communism always fail. Any SOLUTIONS to create more jobs in this dog-eat-dog world?
I no go to JC also know. You people are fools. Stop barking lah and use your god-given brains.
@Pussy
Cheap labor is good – IF you are a business.
No one is asking for govt to fix pay in the private sector as that would be stupid, but opening the skilled labor market here to the current extent is counterproductive too.
The argument that better to have wage deflation than no jobs at all isnt a long term solution. Especially when SKILLED EDUCATED workers are the ones suffering.
No one asked for communism either though COMMUNIST CHINA may have an issue with your claim about how communism always fails.
Dont confuse political systems with a market economy.
A person that cannot, will not or chooses not to see the long term consequences of short term policy making is the greater fool.
Try a simple thought exercise, will your children or even yourself have a better quality of life in 10 or 20 years if singapore continues on its current trajectory?
Dont depend on what is spoonfed to you here or in the MSM, go find out for yourself why employers hire the way they do, why foreign businesses invest here, how massive immigration creates social dislocation, the list goes on.
quss13
Thank you for your response.
That was a nice attempt to explain things. I must credit you for trying though. But, unfortunately, your esplanation is inaccurate as CPF is still a liability to the government both in the accounting sense as well as in the real sense.
If you are holding the cash on behalf of someone the accounting treatment is a liability. What you do with it, e.g. investments, is reflected on the other side as an asset. Hope that I made that clearer to you. This liability of the government to the contributors takes 3 forms – actual, deferred, and contingent. In strict accounting terms the actual portion relate to the amount it needs to pay our to contributors in that particular accounting year, while the deferred portion relates to payment meant for a later date (its an accrual), and finally the contingent part is when the net realisable assets fall short of the amount needed as
payout in the ensuing year if such loss in asset value is already determinable but not booked in yet (in the US they term it marked to market valuation).
Hope you get a more balanced picture now. Sorry I didn’t expand on this in my earlier posting because I did not want to inundate all this dry stuff which may not have any interest bearing on other readers. But I am glad at least I had a serious reader to my comments in you as manifested by your response.
Regards.
@Pussy,
You are right. Best comment ever.
Pussy on Thu, 12th Nov 2009 6:26 pm
Solutions? Easy, we will kick out all those dumb arse goons that stuff up this country.
You know it is time for change when foreigners come first before citizens.
Who are its clients? That is what I want to know. I don’t wish to patronize companies that discriminate against my fellow Singaporeans.
I don’t see the Shitty Times publishing things like these where Singaporeans are facing discrimination in their own country. Shame. Shame on you people.
Jim
Completely agree with you from the accounting standpoint that CPF is a liability.
Perhaps i shouldnt use the term asset when describing CPF liabilities
What i am trying to illustrate is not so much the the CPF is an asset in the accounting sense (it is not) but rather how the existence of the CPF is an asset to the economy at large and provides a floor for asset prices in particular.
Hence it being viewed as a key economic asset by the govt.
I agree with you that the CPF is a ticking time bomb just not in the same manner.
However, if the CPF balance looks anything like some large American pension funds then the ponzi scenario will be uncomfortably real.
Well at least we can number one in something again, at last count Madoff topped out at 60B, at 150+B SGD we should win by a fair margin
they want to hire a sewer… i don’t think any Singaporeans would want to be a sewer… that’ll be a really shit job…
rc on Thu, 12th Nov 2009 11:42 pm
But it still pay for your roti prata breakfast!
quss13
That last part was funny.
To Jim on Thu, 12th Nov 2009 2:01 pm,
Err… okay I am not going to agree or disagree with your opinion on the (root?)cause for this, but what has that got to do with my worries or the current import of foreigners?
Saying that it is justifiable to import foreigners, only adds on to my worries, and from my understanding, it will only delay the (CPF) problems or shift it to another form (social, jobs, etc)
Tell me, who would vote (employ) someone to just shift the problems around without solving them, and yet fixed their own paycheck?
Only Singaporeans… and hopefully not anymore, starting from now
@ Jim on Fri, 13th Nov 2009 1:44 am
Jim and quss 13. Forgive Anonymous intrusion into your little humour exchange.
The last comment, I thought was sardonically, may I add, deliciously “vulgar” of truth.
Some magicians might find that a little bit ticklish, losing concentration and control of the “plot” and in awkwarness of moment, fumble on the stage embarassingly in consequence.
No laughter nor clap, clap, clap from the audience though.
Vote out LHL is the solution to all the current problems!
no wonder the FTs won’t make this place their home…
so low pay with such a high cost of living…
we’ve got policies allowing companies to get away with hiring people on the cheap.
Make no mistake, our HDB flats are now the “nicer” equivalent of the slums in Chinatown 50 years ago. At least back then everything was cheap, and the migrants stayed.
//Pussy
then use you pussy brain to figure out why the govt let these cheap labor come in?
What is the point of working if the cost of that is higher than the pay?
You may also find that cost is not the issue. As an employed you want someone who will turn up for their first day and then for subsequent days. When I employed Singaporeans I lost count of the number of times Singaporeans failed to turn up for their first day after the interview or who left after only one or two days. And, of course, in a country that is characterised by poor manners, never did I receive the courtesy of a ‘phone call or even email to explain why. I know many of you reading think that Singaporeans are hard-working and reliable but that is not my experience (being at the office for long hours is not the same as being productive or hard-working!) nor the experience of many of my friends and associates. Until that perception changes I think you will see more advertising such as this (which should be illegal as it is in every other westernised country).