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Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 11-28-2011 12:55 PM
Article taken from Diary of a Singaporean Mind
Minster Lim Swee Say on Structural Unemployment....
Here is a report of what our Labor Chief Lim Swee Say said at a forum on Saturday:
"A big concern is a mismatch between workers' skills and what's demanded by
employers. Mr Lim said low-wage workers are vulnerable to structural
unemployment.
Another group is the Professionals, Managers and Executives
(PMEs).
He said the last 15 years have seen a concerted effort to train
workers better.
And the current focus on achieving sustainable and
inclusive growth is an extension of this goal." - Report in Today[Link]
Lim Swee say blames the structural unemployment problem on a "mismatch" of skills between job seekers and what employers are looking for. He then proceeds to conclude that the answer to our structural unemployment problems is retraining.
Structural unemployment has been a serious problem for the last decade and the severity of the problem is rising. Yet the PAP leaders refuse to see what is so plain and clear to everyone else and continues to prescribe a solution that had achieved so little results as the prblem grows.
Singapore underwemt great economic transformation in the 60s , 70s and 80s right up to the 90s. We moved from low cost manufacturing to electronics manufacturing to IT services and so on. We did not experience severe structural unemployment right up to the early 90s. While older workers were vulnerable during economic downturns as they are today, they are re-hired during economic recoveries when the labor market tightened up and employers had no choice but to tap the older workers to expand their businesses. Older workers got their chance in the good times and employers were willing to retrain them for job and kept them if they were able to perform. That was why structural employment never grew to become such a big problem in the past.
Since the late 90s, the PAP opened the floodgates to foreign workers. Employers have access to an unlimited pool of young workers from India, China and the Phillipines. When the economy picks up, employers don't have to hire older workers but young foreign workers that can be hired and retrenched easily.
Lim Swee Say's point that structural unemployment is due to a mismatched of skills if that isso, then why are the low wage workers most badly affected? These low wage workers have less skilled jobs and are the easiest to retrained to another low skilled jobs so why are they hit the hardest? The real reason is not skills but the availability of younger foreign workers.
For 15 years the PAP has perscribe retraining for people hurt by structural unemployment. After so much retraining, we find our structural unemployment problems has gotten more severe as time passes. The PAP refusal to face up to the truth and do what is right for ordinary Singaporeans and the continued denial means that the problem can only get worse. With a labor chief like Lim Swee Say, things can only get worse for older Singaporean workers.
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 11-28-2011 01:03 PM
I cannot agree more with the author, why? simply because the whole issue is flawed, our current mandate and policy is just treating the symptom and not addressing the root of the problem. Every society will face the growing issue of aging population which comes with high cost of healthcare and spending, I don't know if there is a solution to equate this but certainly there must be a plan to better manage this. More resources and effort could be put by the government and plan better healthcare facilities for older workers and population.
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 12-04-2011 11:42 AM
Article taken from Diary of a Singaporean Mind
The middle class squeeze...
Inflation rate is above 5% [Singapore's inflation rate holds above 5%]which gives us a real income growth of roughly of less than 0.3%. [Tighter labour market sees income go up to $2,633 from $2,500]. Things have improved by a little bit for some people. However, you should be note that the CPI used to measure inflation is just a snapshot based on a basket of goods with a composition that is probably not what your family consumes. Your family's expenditure inflation rate is different from the CPI. Also, given the wide income gap which leads to vastly different patterns of consumption inflation as measured by the CPI becomes less meaningful. Prices of different categories of goods are moving sharply in different directions - 42" LED TVs have halved in price from one year ago while the price of homes and COEs have surged. If you are shopping for an LED TV you will be happy shopper spoilt for choice but if you're middle income family looking for a car, the COE inflation took away your ability to buy one. Today's paper reported that luxury cars - BMWs, Porsches, Audis, Mercedes, Farraris -have 46% of our new car market.
![[Image: crdiff.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TBXZ8LFO0jk/TtmSYSwbFfI/AAAAAAAABYY/YYu8m6xtvaI/s320/crdiff.jpg)
A new 1 bed room condo at Lorong Chuan goes for upwards of $538K. A quick calculation shows the cheapest 1 bed room unit in the development is sold at a price that is 17 years of a median income worker's total income. If he uses his income fully to service his condo, he will take 17 years...nothing left for food, clothing, utilities etc. What is prudent for someone earning the median income is a small HDB flat which is shrinking over time[Shrinking HDB flats due to need to maximise land and to adapt] and public transport which is now so crowded it is like a cattle ferry. There is also the problem of healthcare which is rising at double digits and outstripping median income growth. If you look at the Singapore worker in the middle earning the median income wage, his quality of life is not equal to a middle income worker in a developed country. Its gets worse as we go down the wage scale. When we get close to the bottom which is quite far down since there is no minimum wage, we have 350,000 workers who work full time but cannot make ends meet and depend on workfare to survive[Older, low-wage workers get Workfare bonus ] - these workers will never accumulate enough savings to retire and have to work their whole lives.
The PAP govt likes to proclaim its greatest achievement taking Singapore from the 3rd world to the 1st. The truth is a large number are left behind and many are falling behind as the middle class weakens.
"At the national level, we fight the elections starting now, getting our policies working, getting our organisation in place, getting our outreach strengthened, getting our communications modernised and mobilised, so that we have five years to prepare for the next time" - PM Lee, at the recent PAP convention.[Link]
PM Lee spoke about the need for PAP leaders to connect with the people and that future elections will not be so easy. While communications and interaction is important, they are a means to an end and at the end of the day, people will vote based on whether their lives have improved and whether they believe their futures will be better. The key to winning back the hearts and minds of voters is to make sure prosperity is shared, the income gap is narrowed and the middle class thrives. Right now the PAP is not even on the right track and they won't be unless they can overcome their ideological approach to policy making. Their insistence on "self reliance" and resilience from workers to escape from greater financial responsibility puts the onus on those who have lost the ability to do so due to the inequalities that is now built into our system and many have fallen into financial hardship and poverty through no fault of their own.
"The Government seems very reluctant it to take on a larger financial
responsibility for caring for our senior citizens. Instead, it hides behind the mantras of self-reliance and filial piety to justify its relatively low expenditure on healthcare for the elderly." - WP's Gerald Giam in Parliament.[Link]
The PAP ideology just like the US Republican ideology can work if income gap is kept low and responsibility can be pushed down individuals. However, the rising income gap and declining middle class means the PAP has to break out of its ideological constraints to find solutions to the problems we face today. PM Lee in his first few years as PM, implemented tax cuts for the rich and corporations and regressive consumption tax increases (GST) that will burden the lower income groups. He was very eager to increase ministerial pay at a time when most people saw problems with excessive executive compensation and expected the govt to set a good example. Unless the PAP can make major changes to housing, healthcare , transport, narrow the income gap or mitigate the effects of the income gap, the next election will not be about winning back Aljunied but how not to lose more GRCs.
The Worker's Party and other opposition parties has cleverly occupied the middle ground as the PAP drifted further to the ideological right in recent years. The PAP enjoys support for some of its past accomplishments but this support will fade
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 12-04-2011 11:46 AM
I always liked to read the articles from this blog, I was on my way to bedok food centre beside the ex bedok interchange today and guess what? I saw big ballons showing Bedok Residences putting up for advertisement which means the old bedok interchange that I knew will now make way for a condo. Well, I hope the bedok food centre will continue to stay which I doubt in this competitive environment of corporate bigwigs making the decision to Approve or Disapprove. You see now its no longer a time of seeking or consider the feelings of a simple man in the street but we are now at the mercy of a big numbers game! numbers game to be asset rich which recently I played a game of monopoly and once again it shows being asset rich does not equate to being liquid when many corporates including sovereign funds are being downgraded
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 12-07-2011 11:17 PM
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Taxi fare hikes and what is wrong with the system.....
Commuters are up in arms over the recent taxi fare hikes[Cabbies hope for higher takings, commuters see red]. This fare hike is supported by the National Taxi Association (NTA) that represents six driver associations. We have an inflation rate of 5% and taxi drivers like all of the rest of the wage earners in this country have mouths to feed and feel the pinch as much as anyone else. I'm not against the intent to improve the income of taxi drivers but raising fares is not the only way to improve the lives and working conditions of our taxi drivers. .The system within which our taxi drivers make a living is a microcosm of much that makes life difficult for many hard working wage earners.
There was a time when taxi drivers could really work for themselves being able to own the taxis they drive and keep much of the income for themselves. When Comfort was "NTUC Comfort", it operate the taxi service closer to that of a coorperative. Today, it is know as ComfotDelgro a listed company that has to answer to shareholders for its bottom line. Taxi drivers today can no longer own their own taxis and have to rent their taxis from a for-profit companies. Because taxis and the taxi licenses are limited in number the cost of a taxi together with a licence is among the highest if not the highest in the world. Taxi companies form an oligopoly since they cannot expand market share easily due to tight quotas on taxis and incenses. there is little incentive to set fares or rental competitively but merely follow the lead of ComfortDelgro.
Despite high rentals, long hours and "tough" work of being a taxi driver, there is no shortage of takers for these jobs because of our serious structural unemployment problem. In the past, taxi drivers had low education levels but today it is not uncommon to see degree holders and ex-professionals such as engineers driving taxis. We even have one driver with a PhD from Stanford who started a blog and gave us a glimpse of the trials and tribulations of surviving as a taxi driver in Singapore [Link].
![[Image: taxi.jpg]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x0xqq1uqY24/Tt6tiupKZ7I/AAAAAAAABYg/HiOkT3rRUFU/s320/taxi.jpg)
"Twenty years ago, I could make $80 a day, and you could buy a lot more with that amount of money in those days" - Taxi driver, Henry Tan, in today's Straits Times.
The rising cost for the taxi driver in the form of rental and fuel and means that real income has not gone anywhere in the past 20 years as the fares for passengers increased over the same period. Much of the money goes to the profit of corporations (ComfortDelgro $228.5M profit in FY2010). govt revenue in the form of COE and licences. At the end of the day, much of what the passenger pays for goes to overheads and not the driver ....while we complain about taxi fares being too high, the taxi driver's life has not improved in the past 2 decades. What has happened to taxi drivers is a microcosm of what has happened in our economy as high costs push businesses to seek cheaper foreign labor to stay competitive and result in low or stagnant wages for Singaporeans.
I don't mind paying higher fares so that taxi drivers can live a better life but we know that the all past fare increases have been accompanied by rental and cost increases that take away the earnings of taxi drivers.
If you visit the National Museum, there is a video of a very young Lee Kuan Yew speaking to a large crowd at a rally in the 1960s. Half way through the speech, he pointed to a young boy in the audience and said "Look at this young boy, he needs an education ...otherwise he will grow up to be a taxi driver". Ironically, today we have highly educated taxi drivers forced to drive taxis due to structural unemployment as PMETs are pushed out of professional jobs by the large influx of foreigners.
There will be no progress for taxi drivers, workers and many Singaporeans unless the system changes significantly. Today, we have to compete with one hand tied behind our backs by the high cost of living and the high cost exacted by rent, overheads and the people and entities that contribute the least to our competitiveness.
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 12-07-2011 11:21 PM
I cannot agree more that this is just treating the short term issue and symptom but not the root and longer term issues. We have become unproductive over the years and we keep opening up without any barriers to entry. In the end we who are born live and die here for the past 3 generations will no longer have a stake or be a stakeholder and everything may just come to naught in the end. Whereas if you turn the tables where someone who is here to earn the income remits the money home will inherently help their own economy over time and always have a place to return to. Do we want to end up like Dubai? Dubai is a classic example of how wrong it can get with a wrong turn of events in the global economy but the difference is Dubai has strong backings and network from its neighbors namely UAE.
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 01-19-2012 08:47 PM
Ministerial Pay : Why the man on the street is right and PM Lee is wrong.
I put up this video not because I want you to listen to the PM's same old argument that ministerial pay has to be high to attract capable people but to show you the empty seats next to Tin Peh Ling and behind her. Those PAP MPs didn't even bother to appear to listen to their own prime minister. You may take issue with MP Tin's intellect but she has been "on the ball" when it comes to attendance in parliament. The same cannot be said of other PAP MPs who have successful high flying careers and showing up in parliament is a part-time thing for which they are paid close to $200,000 in allowance per year.
One day as I got up a bus, I saw a somewhat familiar face. I couldn't figure out where I had seen the person but I took the seat next to him. He greeted me in Hokkien and started talking to me. It took me a while to recall the man in his late forties was working at a coffeeshop that I go to every Saturday morning. He was very happy because the boss allowed him to go off early that day and he was very chatty. He started talking about his life. He had a kid in secondary school and was looking for a job at a coffeeshop nearer to his home in order to save some transport cost - his pay was $1000 so every dollar had to be squeezed. He asked me what I worked as. My Hokkien was really rusty and all I could manage was to tell him was I worked with computers. He got really excited and said he heard that computer work paid very well - "$2000 a month!". I told him, "yes, a person can get $2000 working with computers". He had that "wow" look on his face - $2000 is a lot of money for someone paid $1000. At the back of my head, I was thinking how awkward it would be for me to tell him how much I was actually paid and didn't have the Hokkien vocabulary to explain why I have to paid that amount...then again even if I could speak in fluent Hokkien, it is hard explain and justify why I have to be paid a particular multiple of his salary. You think about it ....this guy turns up for work everyday works from dawn until almost mid-night and our MPs don't even show up at the most important parliament debate to give their 2 cents worth get paid 20 times what the guy at the coffeeshop gets - some of us would rather have that cup of coffee than some PAP MP supporting policies we do not want. The Straits Times published an article saying some 2nd tier executives are now paid $1M a year so we cannot expect to cut ministerial pay too much....so that is how much "wisdom" in the boardroom is valued at these days. PM Lee says they need to pay what looks like a hell lot of money to the "man on the street" to get capable people.
After so much debate, the PAP govt still cannot get people to see their point of view. They still cannot get people to accept their arguments. But why should the people accept something they see as unjust and incorrect?
"But my bigger concern is for the long term; for future Cabinets and potential office holders, people who have not yet come in, people who must make that decision and that commitment." - Lee Hsen Loong
I listened to all the PAP MPs arguments that their concern is for the country and that good salary is necessary to find good capable people. But all these arguments misses the central key issue in our society - that of high income inequality. You cannot justify such high salaries pegged to the highest income earners at a time when income gap is so large. Yes there a practical issues for the PAP because they cannot find dedicated people unless they pay out these skyhigh salaries. It also has an ideology unattractive to many capable people who don't anything to do with the PAP. But that is a problem the PAP created for itself by allowing the income gap to grow and the wages of a large segment of the populace to stagnate and fall. There is now growing evidence that influx foreign workers which the PAP euphemistically explains are here to create jobs for Singaporeans has suppress the wages of many Singaporeams. The whole system needs remaking[Singapore Inc needs rethinking] and the inability of the PAP govt to set ministerial salaries at a level acceptable to the man on the street merely reflects urgent need for change in this country.
We shouldn't accept the principles laid out for ministerial pay when the issue of excessive executive compensation and low worker wages remain unresolved. These high ministerial salaries are linked to bigger problems in our society and the more the PAP MPs argue with passion in support of their own compensation, the less we feel they are able to solve the real problems faced by Singaporeans. We never hear them stand up to talk with the same passion about better compensation for workers - minimum wages, better work benefits, greater worker protection.
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 02-01-2012 02:24 PM
Fandi's unhappy, but holds out hope for a national job
Now part of the Johor FA team, former Lions star points finger at FAS, and candidly talks about wife Wendy's illness
by Dan Guen Chin
04:46 AM Jan 31, 2012
![[Image: showimageCC.aspx?116&240&...;amp;w=240]](http://imcmsimages.mediacorp.sg/cmsfileserver/showimageCC.aspx?116&240&f=2089&img=2089_546144.jpg&h=116&w=240)
JOHOR BARU - He will turn 50 on May 29, but the boyish good looks are still clearly evident.
He had spent over an hour yesterday afternoon barking out instructions, cajoling, encouraging and exchanging words with coach K Sukumaran, easily settling into his new role as technical advisor of second-tier Malaysian Premier League side Johor FA.
When Fandi Ahmad settled down later for a chat, the famous smile was instantly recognisable.
Although it very quickly became clear Fandi was upset, and all was not right in his world.
Speaking to TODAY, he said: "I have not been happy with the way the FAS (Football Association of Singapore) have done certain things in the past.
"But I've told myself that whatever happens, I am still a Singaporean and national interests must come first.
"So, even though I've got nothing to do with the FAS directly now, I hope I will be given the chance to take charge of a national team.
"Maybe the Singapore under-23 team for the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar or the 2015 SEA Games (which Singapore will host).
"That would be fitting for my football career."
Fandi, Singapore's most famous footballer and arguably the best player to don the national jersey, was the assistant to Singapore national coach Radojko Avramovic from 2004 to Dec 2006.
The former SAFFC coach, who led the S-League giants to two titles, left the FAS after that stint.
"To tell you the truth, I was ready to continue then. But they (the FAS) never got back to me. They only did so in March, three months later, and offered excuses like they could not contact me earlier," he said.
"How do you expect me to react. I told them I was no longer interested."
Fandi moved on.
He coached in Indonesia until 2009, then returned to form the Fandi Ahmad Academy in co-operation with SAFFC.
He was appointed coach of the H-Two-O Dream Team, a collaboration between the isotonic drinks manufacturers and the Institute of Technical Education.
He also became technical director of the Sembawang Soccer Academy last year, but recently relinquished that position.
Now, he has signed a three-year contract with Johor FA and is out to help the team gain promotion to the Malaysian Super League.
He will assist coach Sukumaran on all footballing matters, from training sessions to tactical workouts to the recruitment of players.
"Working with young players and watching them grow gives me immense satisfaction. It's the same with Johor, too. They have a bunch of young and inexperienced players and it's a challenge to keep them in the fight in the M-League," said Fandi.
Away from the football field, Fandi admitted life has not been a bed of roses, with his wife, model Wendy Jacobs, ill.
Fandi, who has five children with Wendy, said: "My wife has just been discharged from hospital today after suffering a fall at home during Chinese New Year. I was in the shower when she fell.
"In fact, she has not been really well after she suffered a seizure back in 2009 when we were living in Jakarta and I was coaching Pelita Jaya in the Indonesian Super League.
"The medical bills are mounting for me and made worse by the fact that her condition is not covered by insurance.
"But I am an optimist and I believe things will work out well for us in the end."
There is also the issue of housing.
Fandi sold his previous house when he left to take up the coaching job in Indonesia.
"I am in the process of applying to buy a HDB flat," he revealed. "But I don't have enough in my CPF savings. So things are a bit complicated."
He was Singapore's first sports millionaire, but after a number of failed business ventures, Fandi has lost much of his fortune.
The trace of bitterness was inescapable, when he said: "You see, maybe people value my football abilities more across the Causeway rather than in my own Singapore. That's why I am in Johor now and not in the employment of the FAS.
"But, I believe there are still some good people in the FAS who are willing to lend a helping hand."
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 02-01-2012 02:25 PM
Article from Diary of a Singaporean Mind
The plight of Singapore's son Fandi Ahmad....
I read his interview in Today and shook my head as I found out how he ended up in his unhappy state.
First he was passed over and sidelined for a coaching job in Singapore. The job has been given to an FT although he has all the credentials and experience to do it.
Even the greatest soccer talent in our history has to concede to the penchant for foreigners and end up making a living in JB where his tremendous talent is appreciated. After contributing to Singapore soccer for decades and so many extraordinary achievements, they simply cast him aside in favor of a foreigner who is highly paid but has failed to restore the morale and glory of the Singapore team. Fandi's plight mirrors that of Singapore workers who held the title of number one workforce in the world for decades. The same workforce now has been replaced by a massive influx of foreign workers.
Fandi's problem is compounded by his wife getting sick. Not only sick but she fell through the cracks of our healthcare system for a common but serious ailment, seizure:
"The medical bills are mounting for me and made worse by the fact that her condition is not covered by insurance." - Fandi, Today [Link]
He now has to endure this ordeal as a result of PAP's policy of making the sick and their families shoulder as much financial burden as possible.
After all this, unlucky Fandi, has to grapple with getting a HDB flat, the most expensive public housing in the world today and HDB policies:
"I am in the process of applying to buy a HDB flat. But I don't have enough in my CPF savings. So things are a bit complicated." - Fandi
Fandi was once a millionaire and lost a large part of his fortune due to poor investments. That partially contributed to his plight today - if he had kept his money, he would be sitting around enjoying early retirement. However, not having a lot of money at his age is not an uncommon phenomena in Singapore as many simply don't have enough earning power to build sizable savings. We are also encouraged to be like Fandi - be an entrepreneur and take risks. His present problems are largely due to the system in place..falling through.the cracks and the tendency to value foreign talents over locals.
RE: Articles from diary of a singaporean mind - stephenkhoo - 02-07-2012 03:01 PM
Taken from Diary of a Singaporean Mind
Fixing low fertility with immigration : A dangerous solution...
"Like it or not, unless we have more babies, we need to accept immigrants,"
-Lee Kuan Yew, S'poreans have to understand need for immigrants: LKY
When the population of Singapore was 2 million in 1970, Lee Kuan Yew felt that there were too many people and the fertility rate was too high and put in place a drastic social engineering effort to reduce the fertility rate and discourage women from having more than 2 children.
Today Singapore has 5.18 million people on this tiny island. If Singaporeans don't complain, the PAP govt would like to bring more immigrants and grow the population. We all know it will be great for the boosting GDP growth, more people means more economic activity. The problem is overcrowding causing housing price to spiral up, public transport to be overcrowded, and increase competition for everything - jobs, places in school and healthcare services etc. The PAP effort to bring in foreigners at an extreme rate is rarely seen anywhere else in the world except in oil rich middle east where the foreigners do all the work while local indigenous people sit on top and enjoy the fruits of foreign labor. Here Singaporeans are pushed out of jobs, housing and have to struggle with sharp increase in cost of living. Today 36% of the population is foreign - four out of ten people in Singapore.
Workforce expansion not productivity and innovation account for much of the growth in the last 10 years when the PAP govt stepped on the accelerator to bring in foreign workers. The increase in population density strained our infrastructure and caused the price of scarce resources such as housing to spiral up. Cost of doing business (rental, utilities, transport) less labor also went up which drove businesses to seek out cheaper labor to maintain their profits. This vicious cycle created a dependency on the foreign influx for growth - this is evident when slight moderation of this policy last year quickly caused our economy to slow.
LKY is now saying we should import more foreigners to solve another problem - this will surely drive us further into the vicious cycle and make us even more dependent on the foreign influx to solve our problems. Within a decade we will see the % of Singapore born citizens dropping below 50% and Singaporeans becoming a minority in their own country.
The best way to solve the low fertility rate amomg Singaporeans is to do more to raise it. Look seriously at the issues that is stopping Singaporeans from having more children like the high cost of living especially the high cost of raising a child in Singapore. Stop discrimination in policies that target only a segment of our population with incentives. For example, giving tax rebates for having children. Clearly, such policies target higher income families and leave out lower income families than cannot claim all the tax rebate becuase their income is not high enough. Lower the income gap so that a person working a full time job can afford to get married and start a family.
Arguing that we have to import adults to make up for the short fall in babies today is technically wrong. When we bring in adults today, it is to compensate for the shortfall between 1980 and 1990. During that period, the fertility rate was below replacement level but still relatively high about 1.8 to1.9. This converts to a shortfall of a few thousand to maintain a stable population but the number of new citizens (not counting PRs) per year for the last 10 years is triple this figure. This large figure will cause us to have an even bigger ageing population several decades from now when these new citizens grow old....and the problem will be even harder to solve.
Resorting to short cuts like importing people to boost GDP growth and importing people to compensate for the lower fertility rate is unsustainable and putsus in a vicious cycle of foreign influx dependency. In time to come, the Singaporean identity which we all treasure so much will be destroyed and with that the emotional meaning of being a Singaporean will disappear with it.