Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by robertteh @ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:32:35 +0800

robertteh — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:32:35 +0800

The country seems to be governed by all kinds of hypocrisies and half-cooked assumptions of selfish people in charge of us the latest being that ministers' and top-civil servants' 20% wage increases in 2007 did not cause inflation but the long-overdue ordinary workers' wage increases will lead to inflation and this latter should be stopped.

Let us examine this scenario: Suppose Oil prices which cause the current decade-long worse inflations across the world are to stop or ease due to falling demands brought about by US sub-prime crisis with the economy going into recession, does it mean that the ordinary workers' wage increases being withheld will be forfeited forever while ministers' and top civil servants' 20% salary increases will stay and belong to these favored ones forever.

Will Tharman give back all the overdue and long-awaited wage increases witheld by the same token because inflation is no longer happening to be given similar treatment to ministers and top civil servants.

Does he not realise he will be talking nonsense again treating ordinary workers as sacrificial lambs for any problems in the economy to be used to solve inflation and recession problems while he and his top civil servants will always get away with any types of salary increases with the help of GDP or some fictional NWC recommendations which did not filter down to the ordinary workers at all?

The biggest problem now is to correct all the hypocrisies and wrongful policy assumptions in administering wages and wellbeing of ordinary people for the country.

Or will he because of easing of inflation in such a scenario restore all the wage increases held back as a result of oil spiked inflations.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by HyperFocal @ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:47:06 +0800

HyperFocal — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:47:06 +0800

Originally posted by soulwinner:

The cure to this problem to be back with substanial saving.... frankly speaking have you ever see the 77,000 millionair complaint about the govt?

... they always quote numbers and figures...

... have they ever once shown us all a breakdown of all the figures they have published?

What are the 77,000 made up of? Locals? Foreigners? Companies?

Are these millionaires all still here in SG? Or are they all just referring to the CPF database?

WHAT?

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by HyperFocal @ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:45:14 +0800

HyperFocal — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:45:14 +0800

... this guy is either STUPID, or he thinks WE ARE ALL stupid...

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by soulwinner @ Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:04:35 +0800

soulwinner — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 03:04:35 +0800

The cure to this problem to be back with substanial saving.... frankly speaking have you ever see the 77,000 millionair complaint about the govt?

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by whiskers @ Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:55:52 +0800

whiskers — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:55:52 +0800

I got a question,

In singapore, is there a minimium proportion of singaporeans that must be employed by a company? Is PR's included in this amount? Because it is relatively to get pr here...

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Hawk Eye @ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:26:59 +0800

Hawk Eye — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:26:59 +0800

Originally posted by anonymous_dickhead:

Then MM finally acknowledges that FT has no loyalty and we need more born and bred Sinagaporean. Then his minister go and increase ERP, put up more gates and extend the timing; resulting in Singaporeans going home later and more tired. How to have babies?

More and more often, I find our government policies contradicting each other.

I've got a similar situation.

They hold back out-pro time for RT trainees. Usually, alot of RT trainees have dinner only after the RT training. Due to work committment, employer might not let their employees leave early for dinner before RT.

So, late out-pro means late dinner. Late dinner will makes you grow fat. And they want us to slim down. Isn't it contradicting too?

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by deathmaster @ Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:59:58 +0800

deathmaster — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:59:58 +0800

Originally posted by anonymous_dickhead:

giving more wages = increasing your salary in your current job

earn better wages = increasing your skills to move to better paying job

Tharman is correct that increasing salary is a short term solution that will lead to more inflation. More salary means it will cost more for business and thus, they will charge more. When they charge more, workers demand more salary and then the vicious cycle spirial out of control, currency depreciates and very soon, it'll be the end of this little red dot.

The way to control inflation is not by throwing money at it. It is by trying to control interest rate, reduce the cost of doing business and limit the increase in cost of living by enforcing price control on basic necessities; of course, cutting ministerial pay would definitely help but it has more political milege than economical.

Sadly, our government is doing none of the above.

i dunoe abt how u get ur logic. yeah, it is always good to up ur workers' productivity. but do you know that the more you try to force out more productivity from workers, it is bad for the economy as a whole?

employers get to operate at lower cost, hiring fewer workers. industries needing fewer workers = retrenchment of existing workers + decreased job opportunities for job seekers + the surviving workers get even more overworked.

cutting cost today isn't like when the case 10 yrs ago. 10 yrs ago we import foreign labour to fill in crucial gaps in our workforce, mainly the construction and manufacturing sectors. today, those sectors are like 80% foreigners... so how is that helping singaporeans? what is the point of keeping industries in singapore, when they are not hiring any local workers? so you call that securing jobs for singaporeans?

now, we have influx of foreign workers working in every sectors. name me any sector, and you will find foreign workers in it.

alot of the foodcourts in shopping centers are now run by foreign workers. e.g. sengkang mall.

you find foreign salesgirls, fast food cashiers working in fast food chains and departmental stores.

you find pei du mama in our coffeeshops in the heartlands.

we now have PRC bus captains.

at a supermarket, (i shall not mention the branch), i saw PRC butcher and fishmonger working in the supermarket.

our hospitals are flooded with foreign nurses.

our local universities are also flooded by foreign students. the proportion of foreign students to locals is alarming.

our corporate administrators are spammed with foreigners of all rank.

so far, the only vocation free of foreigners is in the SAF..... but "wad an interesting career prospect".

IMO, having some foreigners to work in positions which no one wants to do. however, the problem at hand is that we currently have too much foreigners than our economy can actually support. to the extent that there is negative competition, that their presence is driving down wages, driving off ordinary singaporeans who have families to support in singapore.

for example, 10 yrs ago, as a office administrator or telemarketers, the rates are usually above $10 /hr.

now, we are seeing it drop to like $5-8 / hr. singaporeans do still want to seek employment in these jobs. however, in many cases, the wages are too low for them to support their families, thus making them turn down job offers.

imagine, 1 foreign worker, and 1 local worker, both earn $1000 per month. the foreign worker would have no problem feeding himself, and sending back any surplus back home. he may spend $800 on himself, and send back $200 back home to china, indonesia, india etc. SGD$200 is a substantial sum in these countries, and can support the worker's family.

however, this is not so in the case of the local workers. assuming that he scrimps and spend $600, $400 is not enough to support his parents, his parents-in-law, his wife and 2 kids. he will be force to look for a better paying job to make ends meet.

well, ppl can keep looking for better paying jobs. but so far, there is no job which is free from such negative competition, where foreigners are artificially depressing wages. so many more "better-paying-jobs" are there left? how many will be left unharm by the foreigners wage-depressing?

eventually, you will run out of "better-paying-job".

one such case is the case of engineering. 10 yrs ago engineers are earning $5k per month. now, due to companies employing foreign engineers, the wage has been depressed to around $2.5k if you are fortunate. that is like a 50% drop in wage, can it does serious damages to family finances. furthermore, it seems very unlikely that engineering salary will ever go up again, with companies prefering to import cheap foreign engineers, further depressing wages.

and back to my earlier point. so what is good about a foreign-own factory employing almost 100% foreign workers in singapore? it is as good as having the factory in thailand, since they did nothing to create employment for the locals. afterall, it is the locals who have to pay taxes. not those bangladeshi workers. not those indonesian maids. not any foreigners, whose low salary exempts them from income taxes.

when are our politicians ever going to see this existing trend of negative competition in the work force? alr, 60% of all jobs last yr went to foreigners.

so will they only do smth if 60% of all parliamentary seats went over to opposition? or when 60% of our currently overpaid ministers are replaced with cheap foreign ministers?

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Fantagf @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:51:26 +0800

Fantagf — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:51:26 +0800

Originally posted by jojobeach:

Okie dokie !.. beer ?... hic*

Okie, you feel free to go buy duck tonight. Go Bar find out.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by reyes @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:01:42 +0800

reyes — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:01:42 +0800

Then MM finally acknowledges that FT has no loyalty and we need more born and bred Sinagaporean. Then his minister go and increase ERP, put up more gates and extend the timing; resulting in Singaporeans going home later and more tired. How to have babies?

More and more often, I find our government policies contradicting each other.

PAP will tell you not to make baby during ERP operation time.

becoz the sperm flow at that time is slow and thus chances of pregnacy is low.

make love after ERP operation is better coz sperm flow is faster and more active than thus chances are higher.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Hwaimeng @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:43:27 +0800

Hwaimeng — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:43:27 +0800

Originally posted by charlize:

I will let other people enlighten you on how much ministers are really paid in Singapore.

The clue is: 6 figures per month.

Yes.

Per month.

wow 6 figures .....

my 5 figures is 100% wrong then

they are really blood suckers like my europe friends says

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by alwaysdisturbed @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:03:07 +0800

alwaysdisturbed — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:03:07 +0800

Originally posted by anonymous_dickhead:

Then MM finally acknowledges that FT has no loyalty and we need more born and bred Sinagaporean. Then his minister go and increase ERP, put up more gates and extend the timing; resulting in Singaporeans going home later and more tired. How to have babies?

More and more often, I find our government policies contradicting each other.

and charging ERP on public transport which i didn't think they would and should.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Poh Ah Pak @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:49:26 +0800

Poh Ah Pak — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:49:26 +0800

More and more, I think that Lee Kuan Yew is a total fraud.

Many people have been hoodwinked by Lee Kuan Yew's propaganda.

He is good at propaganda and selling himself.

He worked at a Japanese propaganda agency during WWII.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Midlusionz @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:05:47 +0800

Midlusionz — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:05:47 +0800

Originally posted by jojobeach:

Okie dokie !.. beer ?... hic*

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by anonymous_dickhead @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:03:05 +0800

anonymous_dickhead — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:03:05 +0800

Originally posted by Arapahoe:

let's see first the PM tell its citizen to donate than the minister recomended to company don;t rise salary. Than they said SG don;t have talent they must hired more from outside to attract company to remain in SG.

its amazing they are still in power.

Then MM finally acknowledges that FT has no loyalty and we need more born and bred Sinagaporean. Then his minister go and increase ERP, put up more gates and extend the timing; resulting in Singaporeans going home later and more tired. How to have babies?

More and more often, I find our government policies contradicting each other.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Arapahoe @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:54:55 +0800

Arapahoe — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:54:55 +0800

let's see first the PM tell its citizen to donate than the minister recomended to company don;t rise salary. Than they said SG don;t have talent they must hired more from outside to attract company to remain in SG.

its amazing they are still in power.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by anonymous_dickhead @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:52:46 +0800

anonymous_dickhead — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:52:46 +0800

Originally posted by dave101:

Just read the news. I’m confused by what Tharman said. He cautioned that companies giving more wages to help workers cope with higher cost of living will lead to another round inflation.

But he also pointed out that the lasting solution to inflation is to continue with efforts to help workers upgrade their skills and earn better wages. This will not lead to inflation meh?

With the rising cost of living, how to survive in SG huh? Govt giving limited help. Companies now also being warned not to give wages increase. ; (

giving more wages = increasing your salary in your current job

earn better wages = increasing your skills to move to better paying job

Tharman is correct that increasing salary is a short term solution that will lead to more inflation. More salary means it will cost more for business and thus, they will charge more. When they charge more, workers demand more salary and then the vicious cycle spirial out of control, currency depreciates and very soon, it'll be the end of this little red dot.

The way to control inflation is not by throwing money at it. It is by trying to control interest rate, reduce the cost of doing business and limit the increase in cost of living by enforcing price control on basic necessities; of course, cutting ministerial pay would definitely help but it has more political milege than economical.

Sadly, our government is doing none of the above.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by alwaysdisturbed @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:51:30 +0800

alwaysdisturbed — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:51:30 +0800

Originally posted by redDUST:

wah...you want threesome....???

for that....

its a no.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by eagle @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:33:51 +0800

eagle — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:33:51 +0800

Originally posted by Hwaimeng:

then how much would u think they be earning ????

tips

our SCDF commissioner in singapore basic is already more than $14k per month

how much would u think our minister/ prime minister would be paid ???

80k a month for our pm???

maybe many many many years ago

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by charlize @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:29:28 +0800

charlize — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:29:28 +0800

I guess only in Singapore you attract "talent" by reducing salaries.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by charlize @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:27:41 +0800

charlize — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:27:41 +0800

Originally posted by Hwaimeng:

then how much would u think they be earning ????

tips

our SCDF commissioner in singapore basic is already more than $14k per month

how much would u think our minister/ prime minister would be paid ???

I will let other people enlighten you on how much ministers are really paid in Singapore.

The clue is: 6 figures per month.

Yes.

Per month.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by eagle @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:24:11 +0800

eagle — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:24:11 +0800

Originally posted by jojobeach:

I warn you hor.. you betta stop insulting me.... I will use the law to subdue your dissent !!

Don't you agree that Tharman is a GENIUS ???? No bardy can ever come up with such an ORIGINAL idea except him !

Now.. he is my HERO.. I worship his ideology !!!

GENIUS !! I want to have his baby !!!!!

GENIUS !! I want to have his baby !!!!!

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by redDUST @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:49:25 +0800

redDUST — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:49:25 +0800

Originally posted by alwaysdisturbed:

hahaha.

if you can't beat them, join them.

wah...you want threesome....???

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by alwaysdisturbed @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:41:00 +0800

alwaysdisturbed — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:41:00 +0800

hahaha.

if you can't beat them, join them.

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by jojobeach @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:40:05 +0800

jojobeach — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:40:05 +0800

Originally posted by Fantagf:

Go ahead and have his baby, menopausal unstable woman.

Okie dokie !.. beer ?... hic*

Tharman: worker wage increase causes inflation, gov fee not replied by Fantagf @ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:38:46 +0800

Fantagf — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:38:46 +0800