Politics & Society

Singaporeans still not productive enough?

Finance Minister Tharman is telling Singaporeans that pay rises are not the solution to inflation. Instead, lower income Singaporeans should be trained to improve their productivity so they can earn more.

The question is, are lower income Singaporeans really not productive enough?  Or, should I put it this way instead - how much productivity is enough? And say if there is a way to objectively measure productivity levels - what is the breaking point for humans, and what will the government do to help low-income earners if there comes a day when they are working at maximum productivity and still can’t earn enough to cope with the rising costs of living?

Singapore’s pace of life is already amongst the fastest in the world, and we are already well known for our people’s productivity (read: multitasking, one person taking on several persons’ job scopes - when we compare with our counterparts in ‘less productive’ economies).

Just several weeks ago a survey showed that the lowest paid workers had on average, no wage increase in the past year. I am not convinced that employers cannot pay their low wage workers slightly more, given that they can afford to give executives substantial pay increments.

Instead of urging our already stressed out and comparatively productive workforce to lower their expectations or to increase productivity, why can’t the government show some compassion for the marginalized population?

© 2008 this lush garden within.