[ad_1]
No Singaporean will disagree with Professor Tommy Koh's example that the $ 1,000 a month that a pump is waiting for a living wage here (What's the best way to lift pay of low-wage workers? Oct 30).
But a minimum wage law will not, unfortunately, help.
Singapore's waiting petrol station waiters because they are prepared to pay $ 1,000 per person. They can easily drop this extra, or if they are mandated to pay more.
The reality is pump waiting are not essential to petrol stations. The solution for Prof Koh's is to get a "real" job that is not just a discretionary add-on to his employing operations, but commanding a better wage. If he does not have the skills to do so, then that is a problem that will not be solved by a minimum wage law.
I have been waiting for work only part time during peak hours. I do not know how many hours they work a week. If they are paid $ 1,000 for a time, then we can recast the idea of a living wage on an hourly basis, which is what they are. This may change the picture.
I also chat with cleaners in the factory flatted I work in from time to time. I was uncle who said that he actually did not have to pay for it. He worked, he said, to stay fit.
I do not know whether there is more such a low salary than I do not know, and we are not very particular about wages, especially on less than full-time basis.
"Low-wage Singaporeans" are thus a heterogeneous lot and broad statistics may not tell the full story.
We must constantly review policies to ensure that they do not impede social mobility. My Singaporean families are helping to reorganize their lives, with the aim of achieving sustainable self-reliance with dignity.
Cheng Shoong Tat
[ad_2]
Source link
