Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial of PAP leaders
March 18th, 2010 | 
Author: OPINION
It is an open secret among Singaporeans that life has been getting tougher for them in the last few years. Their wages have either decreased or remained stagnant and even for those who had a modest pay rise, they are grossly insufficient to cover the rampant inflation which hit a record 6 percent in 2008.
A comprehensive study “Prices and Earnings” conducted by UBS last year revealed that Singaporeans have the lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among th Asian tigers. In fact, Singapore has a standard of living comparable to Russia than to Switzerland whose standard of living was promised by a former Prime Minister a decade ago.
According to UBS, the average Singaporean experienced an 8 percent drop in gross wages between 2006 and 2009 as compared to the more than 50 percent hike in the salaries of PAP ministers during the same period of time.
Naturally, when one belongs to the top 1 percent of the earners in Singapore, it is easy to overlook the common folks struggling to get by in their daily lives.
Obviously Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was ignorant of the UBS report when he made the most unbelievable and audacious claim that foreign workers helped to increase the wages of Singaporeans:
“The healthy growth of wages for low wage families from 2006 to 2008 corresponded with the period when the foreign workforce was growing most rapidly…….It was how we were able to offset the decline in wages for our lower-income group that had taken place in the first part of the decade,” he added.
[Source: Straits Times, 3 March 2010]
The discrepancy in the fitures can be explained by an error in the statistics used by Mr Tharman as pointed out by economist Kenneth Jeyaretnam from the Reform Party:
“The majority of these new residents did not have dependents (hence the much faster rise in the resident labour force than the resident population) and all of them would have had jobs so the proportion of working adults in the average resident household would have risen. As a result we would have seen an increase in real median income per household member without any real increase in the median incomes of Singaporean citizens who were already here before this period began, i.e., the majority of us. Another reason why the Minister’s figure is misleading is that it excludes households consisting solely of non-working persons over 60.”
[Source: Reform Party: A complacent Budget]
Another PAP MP Halimah Yacob cast doubts on the results of the UBS study in Parliament and claimed that “anecdotal evidence” showed that there is a “significant” jump of about 20 percent in wages over the same period of time.
“The discrepancy could have come from the limited sample of firms in the UBS study. The study’s figures do not give statistical averages as it covered only a few companies for each profession and city,” she suggested.
[Source: Straits Times, 9 March 2010]
It appears that both Mr Tharman and Madam Halimah have not checked the facts with their fellow colleague Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong which must have embarrassed them greatly when the Labor Report published this Monday had proven them wrong beyond any reasonable doubt:
“Nominal earnings decreased over the year by 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2009, easing from the 3.0% decline in the preceding quarter. Earnings in 2009 declined by 2.6%, after rising by 5.4% in 2008. After adjusting for inflation (2009: 0.6%, 2008: 6.6%), the decline in real earnings was 3.2% in 2009, deeper than the contraction of 1.2% in 2008.”
[Source: Ministry of Manpower]
The decline in wages in hardly surprising given the increased competition that Singaporeans have to face from cheap foreign workers which the PAP has let in indiscriminately.
A recent Wall Street Journal editorial reported the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore over the last few years had depressed the wages of ordinary Singaporeans, increased the cost of living, especially that of public housing, decreased labor productivity and led to an overall decline in the standard of living.
One reader who graduated last year with an Engineering degree from NTU told us that he is still looking for a job.
“I have sent my resumes to countless companies, both local and MNCs and only a handful got back to me. They offer a basic salary ranging from between $1,500 and $2,000 which is completely unacceptable as I still have to repay my study loans. Others coughed at my NS obligations which need me to be away for up to four weeks a year. One HR manager told me bluntly to ‘take it or leave it’ as she can easily find a China or Indian engineer to fill the positions for less pay than I am requesting easily. These companies have no problems fulfilling the dependency ratio quota for foreign workers as they will help the new foreign workers apply for Singapore PR almost immediately after they are hired,” he said.
In other countries, jobs like engineering are reserved only for locals, but over here, the PAP expects Singaporeans to compete directly with cheap foreign engineers while remaining “cheaper, faster and better” at the same time.
The PAP’s addiction to foreigners is understandable at it “kills two birds with one stone”:
1. Foreigners help keep labor costs down thereby increasing GDP growth artificially. A certain percentage of the PAP ministers’ multi-million salaries is pegged to GDP growth figures – the higher the percentage growth, the more money they bring home.
2. The foreigners provide a ready pool of potential new citizens whose increasing numbers will help to shore up the PAP’s flagging support among native Singaporeans.
How can Singaporeans ever trust the PAP to manage the economy when its MPs and ministers are still living in a state of denial? Does it make any sense that while the salaries of Singaporeans have decreased by 3.2 percent, the PAP ministers will be getting a hefty 8.8 percent pay hike at the same time? Is this a government for the people or for a small group of self-serving elites only?
It is time for Singaporeans to realize that there will be no economic rights without political rights and unless Singaporeans stand up and fight for their rights, they will always remain as slaves to the despotic PAP regime, waiting for the crumbs left over by them rather than to partake and enjoy the fruits gained by the nation’s economic growth.
The UBS Series:
>> Part 1: Singapore has lowest wages and domestic purchasing power among Asian Tigers
>> Part 2: Moving towards a Russian standard of living
>> Part 3: Why Singaporeans are paupers in a first world economy
Related articles:
>> Halimah Yacob refutes UBS study findings
>> Halimah Yacob: Productivity drive will be derailed if foreign worker challenge not addressed
>> Exposing the six major flaws in the PAP’s immigration policies
>> Wong Kan Seng promises to tighten immigration policies
>> SM Goh: Foreign workers numbers may still rise
>> Malaysian car mechanic applying for Singapore citizenship
>> PAP launches Singapore Citizenship Journey to help new citizens integrate
>> Compulsory for new citizens to attend “sharing sessions” with grassroots leaders
>> Wong Kan Seng urged Singaporeans to be more tolerant of foreign workers
>> Tharman: Foreign workers increase income of low-income families
>> Sylvia Lim: Pace and influx of foreigners over last few years is wrong
>> Amy Khor urges Singaporeans to welcome foreigners
>> PAP MP wants more money to be spent to make new citizens feel welcomed in Singapore
>> Shanmugam: Foreigners generate jobs for Singaporeans
>> Vivian happy there are 4,500 new citizens serving as grassroots leaders
>> Cosmetic changes made to immigration policy
>> SM Goh: New immigrants needed to make up population shortfall
>> PAP ministers hailed contributions of foreigners
>> SM Goh expressed support for Zhang Yuanyuan
>> State media: citizens have more rights over PRs
>> Zhang Yuanyuan got her Singapore PR in only 2 months
>> Official reply from government on the Zhang Yuanyuan fiasco
>> Singapore PRC PR proclaimed loyalty to China publicly
>> PRC resident hung China flag to celebrate its National Day
>> PRC student in Singapore wants more scholarships for foreigners
>> PRC prostitutes solicit for customers on Singapore’s cyberspace
>> ERA: 40 per cent of resale flats buyers are PRs
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Posted in Opinion
67 Responses to “Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial of PAP leaders”
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when is the freakiing elections? i can’t wait to vote out a few MPs and ministers. they have to wake up.
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/mdsfeb10.pdf
Table 3.3 indicates approx 2.5% drop in nominal wages whilst in 15.1 (CPI) essential things like food and accomodations has risen in prices. Only transportation has decreased in cost. Obviously housing is the largest expenditure of each household, with decreasing wages life is only going to be harder from now on.
Mind you these are official figures from the Department of Statistics and not some numbers out of the air.
World class ministers and mps, yet one say wage increase, another say decrease.. Seems like with the same set of data, they just pick and chose which ever subset that suits their purpose..
Time for them to go, vote for your future and your children’s future..
Denial
Who can expect the MIWs and the Ministers to agree that wages are going up [increasing purchasing power of S$] and that all SGeans are enjoying a good life like never before?
The main concern of the poor and elderly is in the rising cost of living and medical costs, isn’t it?
When will the government set up a permnanent Trust fund for them?
Is it that the government is short of funds and is unable to set up a $500 million Trust fund over 5 years [half from the public and the other half from the private sector based on dollar-to-dollar backing of the contributions made by the public]?
90 percent of the annual income of the Trust should be earmarked to help pay part of the medical costs of the poor and the elderly, and part of it to help top up the dole given to the poor families?
Is it wrong for the government to set up such a perpetual fund to attend to the needs of the poor and elderly?
Well, do you really need statistics to show whether our pay has risen? Look around us. I haven’t had a pay raise for the last 2 years. My PUB bill keeps going up all the time. Eating out has become increasingly expensive, and I’m not even talking about restaurants. Cook and eat at home you say? Check out the prices of groceries at supermarkets! At the end of the month I have zero savings left and I don’t even lead a lavish lifestyle. Just paying for necessities. Haven’t taken a holiday in years since my honeymoon. Can the honourabe minister or Mdm Halimah explain to me what I’m doing wrong with my money?
My ex-company hire foreign IT engineers willing to accept $2000/month. Local would cost at least $3500 for the same job. In Singaporean we have more committment like housings loans and other fixed expenses, whereas foreigners expenses is very limited. Jobs not only labours jobs but also mid-levels are slowly given way to foreigners.
Unless the government is willing to curb the influx of foreigners and have rules that certain jobs need to go to locals, Singaporeans would be at total disadvantage at our own territiory.
I hardly find food cost less than $3 in hawker center nowadays, no cooking at my rented place. Most of my income spent in food and rental, how to save enough for the “COV’? The hope of getting my nest is ‘ZERO’.
How many SGeans have more than $10,000 pure cash savings in their bank acccount or kept at home under the bed?
Do the MIWs and Ministers know this fact?
Risting cost of groceries.
Where is the NTUC Fairprice Chairman who promised to set up budget stores for the poor?
Does he know what is the original spirit of the Welcome store of NTUC?
Does he know what is MIW’s true socialism when troubles over, the poor is forgotten fast and good in less than 40 years fast and quick, isn’t it?
Will Prof Tommy Koh and MM’s daughter Dr Lee WL dare to ask him about this?
Time for change is now.
There is no other choice.
Singaporeans cannot wait any longer for the elections.
Bring it on!!!
Come’on gahmen has created an outlet for those who are not making it on the their working career which are the two casinos.
Dont make enough go gamble at the casinos who knows you might win the jackpot. Honestly think that it will be more likely that the banker will win instead of you but anyhow it will be a win win situation. Win for the banker and Win for the gahmen from the $100 bucks you pay and the taxes they collect.
Sorry hor our gahmen do not really care about us they are really focused at making money the more the merrier, citizens suffer? throw some scraps they will shut up and go away, election time easy distribute sweets and the ground will be sweet as honey, it has worked all the while why reinvent the wheel
It’s crazy , we are Singaporean , this is my land my home.
Why am i being squeeze out of the system ?
I have mouth to feed , old man and woman , young son now in
Sec one . Wife doing coffee shop helper to bring in some
additional cash .
I used to work as a engineer with take home pay of S$3.5k .
Company restructure i was retrench , replace by FT.
Now i am working in BATAM to feed my family.
WTF is happening , i trust our GOV previously , not any
more . It’s time to fight for our place in Singapore .
Our MP are useless bunch of blood sucker ! Who don’t give
a dam .
Calling all Pure breed Singaporean , let’s do what need
to be done .
Vote for opposition , it cant get worse than this.
With each ministers collecting >$2M per year excluding xx months of bonus + lately announced 8% (??) increament while ave local wage is on the down hill. Too strong an indication that they are totally out of touch with the ppl who vote them in not too long ago. How sad it is & unbelieveable!!
But again, if they are being elected again in next election, we have to kcik our axx lei.
Yes, hope that ppl not only vote for themselves (short term), but also vote for our children future (long term). For me, I will go for non-pap lah.
Budget 2010 is totally useless for mid level workers. Who need a tax relief or tax break when you only earn 2k a month. Worse still, got foreign trash willing to work for 1.5k, undercut you.
Now you dun even have 2k……
PAPayas won’t wake up their ideas. They are still thinking that majority of singaporeans support them….
Just vote them out…. or else “you die, your business”
We can hypothesize/extrapolate all kinds of scenarios and even offer suggestions/opinions/critique, but understand that the way(s) of the incumbent govt is to subtly manipulate and it is the paucity of alternative voices, lack of transaprency, ineffective or independent checks n balancing bodies n lack of accountability that has emboldened them to ignore and continuously hoodwink us.
The mistake that local citizens made is this and it is a VERY BIG MISTAKE – trusting a one-party system.
I doubt that it would have degenerated to such a sorry state of affairs, if we had a multiparty or two-party ssystem.
Forget about the MPs, Ministers and local media – all useless and self-serving.
Think lar – for a country/nation/city-state or whatever it is called or labeleed, it is simply ridiculous that with so many Ministers, MPS , mayor and frankly dont know what else – that it is not getting any better and i daresay that it is getting worse lah.
PS – PAP undeniably was worth every vote – but that was 15 – 20 years ago. Remember – the past does not equal the future.
Today, no lah, it is spent party , bereft of ideas, bereft of principles,lacking integrity, lacking conviction and wors still is that it is now,elitist and has alienated itself from the common man. one can simply pile on. Now all it wants is dollars and perpetuate their stay n hold on to power at any costs. The accruals go to a few group of people with vested interests.
Singaporeans and the soon- to- be -citizens (so-called FTs) are merely pawns in the game of power politics and money lah.
Tru Borne SIN: I feel for you…I truely can feel your pains. BATAM……don’t need to wait for our wives and daughters to become maids in other countries like what dear MM said…our highly educated and combat trained MALES are already working as slaves in other countries.
VOTE FOR CHANGE. No more $$$$ based policies, vote for citizen centric ones!
Our young educated Singaporean are now encountering the problem of employment due to influk of cheap semi skilled worker now. So young singaporean ..please vote wisely to protect your
future and your children future. The Government already lose the touch from the ground and just getting big salary for themselves.
Tharman and Halimah are now blatant liars, just to asslick harry jr. Thats the quality of our multi million dollar ministers. At least Gan kim yong produced factual figures, even then I think he massage it quite a bit, the figures should show its much worse! VOTE THEM ALL OUT!
swiss standard is for them. russia is for you.
The increase of 8.8% are not for ordinary folks. How to pay daft 8.8%. ( they will bring to batam to gambler away and then come back to ask gov for help).
This increase are for gov , family members, elites and close friends. They are more harddriving than ordinary folks. So, guys too bad.
Even if there is a cursory increase in pay,the more important notion is that of actual disposable income after taxes including gst etc!
One reader who graduated last year with an Engineering degree from NTU told us that he is still looking for a job.
“I have sent my resumes to countless companies, both local and MNCs and only a handful got back to me. They offer a basic salary ranging from between $1,500 and $2,000 which is completely unacceptable as I still have to repay my study loans. Others coughed at my NS obligations which need me to be away for up to four weeks a year. One HR manager told me bluntly to ‘take it or leave it’ as she can easily find a China or Indian engineer to fill the positions for less pay than I am requesting easily. These companies have no problems fulfilling the dependency ratio quota for foreign workers as they will help the new foreign workers apply for Singapore PR almost immediately after they are hired,” he said.
Jobs for Foreigners, NS for Singaporeans!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/vnc2005/jobsFTns.jpg
Do the right thing this GE, vote the PAP out, even a retard will serve you better than your current PAP MP whose PAP party’s needs come first, long before you Singaporeans!
It is obvious that Mr Tharman and Mdm Halimah have not been talking enough with Mr Gan Kim Yong. Pap ministers and mps contradicting each other, making a fool of themselves in the process. Pitiful Singaporeans are over paying for under performing pap ministers and mps. The pappies must go before we can breath easier and see brighter days.
Mr Mah Bow Tan:”When the economy is good, it is only normal to expect housing prices to go up” Channel News Aisa
Where Mr Mah Bow Tan goes, it is only normal to expect the prices to jump higher and higher.
After all, he introduce COE. Under his watch a 2nd hand car below 1000cc could fetch 86,000. Parking lot from $15.00 to $60.00. Then he was transfer to HDB
Where Mr Mah Bow Tan goes, it is only normal to expect the prices to jump higher and higher.
From a 5 room flat of 26,000 today in Marine Parade can sell close to 1 million dollars for 2nd ofr 3rd owner. From a 3 room flat of 6,000 today she can fetch you 250,000
How can the young people afford, if the prices kept going higher and higher
Living Singapore, it is only normal to expect prices to go higher and higher
With ever increasing inflation our $5.00 can’t buy you anything. We produce $5.00 into coin version
Some banker said:”Our Singapore $10.00 can’t buy you anything in the future. Actually it is happening right now, economical rice 4.00 -4.50 nothing at all, drink 1.50–1.80 forget about side dishes one for lunch, what a dinner?
A typical a old required $800 minimum a month a survive in Singapore. All those stupid big flats for what? When you are old, maintaining big flats is heavy work
In Singapore only those Degree Holder with good paying jobs will find living in Singapore very affordable compare to Tokyo Seoul, New York, London
For middle class and lower class income (without minimum wage) simply can’t survive. Think about Future of Singapore where inflation will go even higher that would be worse
Imagine more Mr Mah Bow Tan everywhere he goes…
Never in my mind have I ever imagined that PAP has turned out out to be a our People’s Arrogant Party for cunning suckers coming together trying to squeeze every drop of blood out of ordinary Singaporeans.
I really can’t wait to see the day where the old man will just drop dead right in the middle of a election tsunami until he doesn’t even have a chance to call the army to take over.
And God willing hopefully one day the PAP will be wiped out from power & then let’s see how arrogant can they become.
Maybe should ask them, in their own words, is none of their policies flawed in anyway past and present ?
HDB Flats Becoming Smaller. Why?
Time for a change. Don’t trust them anymore. Don’t believe all the pre-election ploys.
i say, mp salary should be pegged to bottom 10% of population, any disagreements? when mp perform better, then we raise the bar to 12%, etc …. capped at 50%.
Our MPs, ministers and top civil servants are paid “highly obsence” salaries such that they are detached from the grounds of low-income and middle-income Singaporeans who are slogging hard everyday to earn a decent reasonably living. I reckon annual inflation does not impact them since they had already accummulated enough to last a few generations.
Do we want politicians who draw a $3+ million just doing forecasting, or visiting differnt countries, or just cutting ribbon, shaking hands etc?
This was extracted from someone’s blog.
Perhaps TR can do further research to get the latest figures of our World’d Highest Paid Politicians.
The data could be outdated, but I reckon numbers should be +/- 5% variance with the Singapore economy and GDP in positive growth now.
The TOP 30 highest paid politicians in the World are all from Singapore
The TOP 10 highest paid politicians in the world :
1. Elected President SR Nathan – S$3.9 million.
2. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – S$3.8 million.
3. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew – S$3.5 million.
4. Senior Minister Goh Chok Thong – S$3.5 million.
5. Senior Minister Prof Jayakumar – S$3.2 million.
6. DPM & Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng – S$2.9 million.
7. DPM & Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean – $2.9 million
8. Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo – S$2.8 million.
9. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan – S$2.7 million.
10. PMO Miniser Lim Boon Heng – S$2.7 million.
11. Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang – S$2.7 million.
12. PMO Minister Lim Swee Say – S$2.6 million.
13. Environment Minister & Muslim Affairs Minister Dr Yaccob Ibrahim – S$2.6 million.
14. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan – S$2.6 million.
15. Finance Minister S Tharman – S$2.6 million.
16. Education Minister & 2nd Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen – S$2.6 million.
17. Community Development Youth and Sports Minister – Dr Vivian Balakrishnan – S$2.5 million.
18. Transport Minister & 2nd Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim Siang Kiat – S$2.5 million.
19. Law Minister & 2nd Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam – S$2.4 million.
20. Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong – S$2.2 million.
21. PMO Minister Lim Hwee Hwa – S$2.2 million
22. Acting ICA Minister – Lui Tuck Yew – S$2.0 million.
23 to 30 = Senior Ministers of State and Ministers of State – each getting between S$1.8 million to S$1.5 million.
Notes:
1. The above pay does not include MP allowances, pensions and other sources of income such as Directorship, Chairmnship,
Advisory, Consultancy, etc to Gov-linked and gov-related organisations or foreign MNCs such as Citigroup, etc.
2. Though it is based on an estimate, the data cannot be far off the official salary scales.
I am an employer. My business employs both locals and foreigners.
I like to share my experience working with local workers and foreign workers. The sad truth is that locals are unwilling to do “less prestigious jobs”, e.g. nursing, cleaning, cashiering, waiting (restaurants and pubs), logistics and warehousing, driving buses, construction jobs…etc.
I am not talking about engineering jobs, IT jobs, banking, legal positions, or executive positions, these, have their own set of problems that I am not familiar with them. I am talking just pure and simple manual work.
The SG workers – shift work don’t want, work on weekends and public holidays, don’t want, too far from home, don’t want, school exam periods, don’t want, school holidays, don’t want, six-day week, don’t want, overtime, don’t want….and the list of “don’t wants” is endless.
And I am not not even talking about very low pay. When you still cannot find locals to take up the “less pretigious jobs”, what can you do? So I started taking in WP, S-Pass holders, and even EP. Guess what? These foreign workers are now earning more than the average A-level and polytechnic graduates.
In the end, I told myself, it is not about pay. Our education system and our value system have shut out our sons and daughters to even consider less pretigious jobs and these jobs are now going the way to the foreign workers.
Who is to blame?
Rising cost of living, Rising property prices, Rising numbers of foreigner workers, now they are importing Malaysian to press down our salary…to top it all we are not competitive??
Now do we had to thank our old media for putting it all into proper (twisted perspective) in a responisble way. With more breaking news and typical bullshit views. I guess its all about our Singapore Dream still going for that Swiss Standard
I don’t much I don’t much but I do know this stuff is messed up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PetWJ1ytQHk
If the MPs do not believe statistics from UBS and if they really want to find out the truth and do something good for the people (no wayang stuff) then conduct a honest-to-goodness survey.
Don’t just debate and cover up the severity of the situation in parliament or the papers.
Do uphold the post with integrity and manage with a heart (no wayang stuff please).
If you truly meant what you say and are for us, we will all know it. What many are frustrated is: what we see are all wayang stuff. Where is the heart?
Do feel when the conscious is not dead/callous/seared.
So singaporeans still want to vote them for another 4 years ?
PLESE USE YOUR BRAIN LAH …….
LATEST FLOP IS THE 2 CASINOS . ITS ALSO THE LAST FLOP …GAME OVER.
Wow! Nathan get $3.9 million a year just to shut up and close 2 eyes?
I would rather vote for a cockroach than PAP. Life is at the pits already.
Somalia standard of living awaiting us.
Ms. Halimah Yacob should do some homework. Cannot just any old how say and claim tht UBS research on singapore wages is wrong.
She don’t have figures and facts, what to talk?
Go home n collect some facts n come back again otherwise how much money wasted on other MPs time during the debate.
■Respect to President Ong on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 10:47 pm
//Wow! Nathan get $3.9 million a year just to shut up and close 2 eyes?
——————————————–
Relax & enjoy only.
Singaporeans have the responsibility to do a massive clean up of such expensive cabinets. Too much accumulated dirts in there that damaged the well-being of this country. Time to chop heads in the coming election. Assessment lies in the hands of Singaporeans and not the self-serving PAP. We decide whether they are worth so much and save more extra budgets to help the poor. Alternative parties can start preparing themself for the winning speeches. PAP is no longer the trusted party whenever we see a foreigner loitering in our backyard in the name of “contribution” & “talent”.
The winners get to dictate history and the news. If a lie is repeated enough times, there will be ppl that believe the lie in the end…
If the disparity between the Ministers’ remuneration and the common folk is so wide, will they truly understand the plight of Singaporeans? Will they truly represent the interests and welfare of Singaporeans?
I take the evening bus 200 from Pasir Panjang thru South Bouna Vista Road, three quarters of the bus when full is filled with Indian, China, Filipino and sat beside and behind me two girls
from Indonesia, some white people too, we are totally betrayed and I’m doing reservist to protect these people. Vote the PAP out!!!
dun need statistics to tell me or my family if our pay is enough. The only way PAP will find out if our pay is acceptable is via the next election.
LKY will do anything including calling in the army to prevent PAP from getting voted out. The can of worms the opposition is going to unravelled will shock the entire world.
Here’s a graph showing influx of FTs vs Real Earnings of Singapore: http://i41.tinypic.com/ojo61l.jpg
You guys may be interested to know that the correlation coefficient for these 2 sets of data is -0.7 which is considered strongly negatively correlated. Meaning to say, if one set of values goes up, the other will come down.
waiting for PAP downfall…… majulah singapura
If they ever loses a GRC, Harry will come out and start shooting shit from his polished ass, just like the last time when they lost 4 seats…
All you ppl better watch out, carry umbrellas or else you’ll get the shit from the old fart.
Micheal
Not tat e singaporean do not wan to do shift job.Im myself working shift.But you ask yourself, how much you r paying us singaporean to work on shift schedule?as for WP, S-Pass holders, and even EP..when they convert they pay tat they get to their motherland currencies..how much will tat be?
And when you type “And I am not not even talking about very low pay “…please tell me yur salary range for your less prestigious job…
Quote “ChenShuiBian on Fri, 19th Mar 2010 12:57 am”
“LKY will do anything including calling in the army to prevent PAP from getting voted out. The can of worms the opposition is going to unravelled will shock the entire world.”
If LKY can go to the extend of calling up the military regime, then whats to stop him from tweeking the election results? I’ve lost too much hope in our Singapura in the past few years. The quality of living of our people are not progressing in tandem with the country’s economy. Makes me question whether working till we die here is worth it. After all, seems that we Singaporeans are being bred as lab rats, living for the purpose of running the hamster wheel till we drop dead.
In my working environment, there are many FTs. Lots of them told me through idle talk that although the state of living is better here than their home country, they will not stay here indefinitely. Many of them will migrate to other 1st world countries later on in their life after they have gained some work experience and cash. I feel sad when i hear this.
I feel sad not because they come to compete with us for work and leave when they’ve taken enough.
I feel sad because the government probably knows about this trend but they persist in pursuing higher, short term productivity gains through importing FTs instead of investing more on the locals, which makes up a large portion of long term output for the country.
Singapura changed. Changed because it is not the lion that used to guard its cubs from other predators.
LKY changed. Changed because he not longer uses that great fighting spirit that he had during the pioneering years against external threats. He now uses it against us.
The Government changed. Changed because it does not house members who fight for progress in the country. They fight for themselves now.
I’m not anti-PAP or anti-anyone. I’ve been to other countries for occupational and also volunteer work and I am grateful that we have proper housing, healthcare and education. I tried very hard to believe in PAP and in their propaganda. I tried. But everytime when I’ve almost convinced myself, they’re sure to mess something up. Cover-ups follow and media coverage controlled for the required effect. So ever fast to condem others in their misadventure but swift to deny own responsiblilty to failed policies and mishandled issues.
So I’ve changed too now. PAP will never get my vote. Ever.
Nothing but a bunch OF FROGS CROAKING FROG inside an old old… 86-87 YEARS OLD WELL!!!… And so they CAN ONLY SOUND LIKE anything else but FROGS IN A ‘pappy well’!!!… LET”S POUR MORE… ACID INTO THAT WELL!!!
Even if I can bear with it, how can I let my children suffer? I would like them to remember me who took the courage to effect a change for their better.
@Michael on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 10:15 pm
You need to understand why our youngs wanted to get diplomas/degrees.. This is so that they can have a career and be able to progress in their chosen field.. What’s the use of having a diploma/degree if they ended up cleaning, driving buses, even with good starting pay? What kind of future can they envision then? The only career progression in this case is if they become bosses of cleaning company, bus company, otherwise when they reached 40+, they can only continue doing cleaning and driving bus…
Even if you pay them good salary now, question is can you continue to give them good pay increment for 10years, 20years, until their retirement?
Foreigners don’t mind, reason is because after 10, 20 years, they have the option to return back home and retire comfortably, while our diploma/degree grads will be stuck taking same “good” salary.. barely enough to make ends meet.. and what kind of career change can they undertake when they are in their 40s, 50s, 60s? Security guards?
Of course they knew about it long ago, but choose to ignore it as long as their salaries continue to rise. Their salaries should be pegged to productivity instead! Awfully disgusting and disgraceful bunch of incompetent and greedy fools. PAP OUT!!!!!!!
It appears that these days the garment is adopting short term rather than long term strategy for the country.
The old guards, most of them who had gone to meet their makers, and the remaining few who helm the leadership are no longer having the same spirit which we observed during our father’s time.
The younger generations of leaders I would conclude is totally for themselves and mostly spout nonsense to make the public angry.
It appears that the ruling party had not once acknowledged that they had mis-judged, mis-managed etc etc due to human error. It appears that whenever there is an error due to mis-judgement they are quick to deny and never admit.
In such a case, how would a person learn from mistakes. It appears that the ruling party is god! Only god makes no mistake. Only god makes forever ggood judgement!
By not acknowledgeing mistakes, they are telling us that they are gods!
Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!
Inspite of all the kpkb by the citizens, the Papies still keep the floodgate open for the foreigners.
They care two hoots and are deaf to all the complaints.
They are pushing the ctizens against the wall and test our patients to the limits!!
We have the power and our rights to change the course of history, and the only way is thru’ our votes!!
Future generations will be proud of us and we will all be remembered as the ‘heroes’ who dared to go against all odds
and triumphed!!
If countries like Malaysia,Japan and America can do it,
why can’t we??
Declining wages of Singaporeans and the continued denial of PAP leaders – “Men In White: The Untold Story of PAP”
This Singapore song is a real classic! Haze Over Southern Sea: Dawn at the Lion City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUx9VJQGzz8
treo @ 9.25 am
the salary for N level worker starts at $1,200 and rises to $1,500 in 2 years if they stay that long.
lim @1.36pm
as an employer, I am blind to the cost of living in the country where the workers are coming from. It would be difficult to maintain 2-3 sets of salary scales, one for Sg workers and others for foreign workers. You are right that our young sees no future in manual work, and we will not find Sg’s young who is willing to start from that level. Our parenting and our educational system prepare our sons and daughters for a future as doctor, lawyer, accountant, architect or engineer. Out of a cohort of about 40,000 each year, about 4,000 will become professionals in the above fields. That is 10% of the cohort. The other 36,000 are going to be disappointed and disillusioned.
If the govt finds numbers by UBS unreliable, why did GIC invest billions in UBS? Duh?
You can bully some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you cannot bully all of the people all the time.
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people all the time.
The coming election is very likely our last chance to reclaim our country before we are over swarm by foreigners. After that, we are done!!! Never, never squander away your vote and your right. God bless our beloved country.
For ALL Ministers… AND The President… and etc…
1. 6 – 9 months SPECIAL BONUSES ON TOP Of Civil Service bonusES for GDP in the positive territory!!!
2. SO that is how many Million per Minister a year in total???
So why shouldn’t Lim SweeT Say be SO HOPPY “Every month see HIS CPF Statement!!!… BULLSHITS DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO “BLUFF” PROPERLY!!!… As that’s how Dumb-Ass this one fine example of a minister HAS BECOME being SO OBSCENELY PAID by harry to be A YES MAN!!!… WASTED talent!!!
Harry, GCT, LHL etc always tell US to get HIGHER EDUCATION to GET HIGHER INCOME… THEN AFTER THAT… they “Micro-Manage” EVERY Level of labor by IMPORTING Foreigners by the plane loads to EVEN ROB PMETs of their jobs…
And then TOUT their FARTING reasons about Singaporeans being choosy… BLA BLA sounding like sheep!!!… The MOST DUMB animal!!!…
When a leader like wants everything to be fundamentally done his way from his “Forecasting”… ALL such a ‘leader’ needs are… robots operated by remote controls!!!…
IS such a ‘leader’ truly wise and great???… As in his own words… even if he puts in dumb one into ‘his’ orchestra… HE STILL GETS Music!!!!… HIS KIND OF “OLD
NEW AGE” Genre music!!!???
Hairy harry mind of the ONE-TRACK kind in pappy stuffed puppies kingDOOM!!!
they work you like rats in a city. you scurried from hole to hole.. they keep you happy with work no difference from rats. why make you rich ? cos you are forced to stay here and not run away.. if everybody is rich. all would have abandone ship long ago.. why wait till now.. DAFT. This was my plan.. papa..
If only this could be true for the average Singaporeans –
http://www.theage.com.au/business/were-enjoying-record-prosperity-study-finds-20100321-qo1z.html
Wonder what Tharman and Halimah would say to the Comparative Table I extracted from UBS Prices and Earnings Report 2009:
Pls scroll down to para C3.4(c):
http://singaporeenbloc.blogspot.com/2010/03/trilogy-part-c-pm-said-i-am-saying.html
Compared Singapore with:
(a) Zurich (Spore aspired to be “Switzerland of the East”)
(b) Tokyo, HK, Seoul, Taipei (other Asian tigers)
(c) Kuala Lumpur (nearest neighbour)
It is NOT just the LEVEL.
It is the MISMATCH!
Read my cyber-lips, eh?
The Pariah, http://www.singaporeenbloc.blogspot.com