After watching the above video, here is my analysis.
Firstly, there was one statistic that struck me as unbelievable, namely the statement “[PM Lee] is the highest paid politician in the world today, earning more than the leaders of the US, UK, France, Japan and Germany combined” and the caption says “$10000 a day”. Assuming the “$10000” is in Singapore dollars, I did a bit of research to prove or disprove this. I turns out that different parties have different values of what he earns, from S$1570000 to S$1958000. This is a maximum of $5400 a day, not even close to the “$10000 a day”. As for the “[PM Lee earns] more than the leaders of the US, UK, France, Japan and Germany combined”, it is true that PM Lee is one of the highest paid heads of government. Even though he may not earn “more than the leaders of the US, UK, France, Japan and Germany combined”, he still earns five times more than US President Barrack Obama (US$400000 a year).
I will now move on to the proposed policies by the SDP. Firstly, the SDP proposes a minimum wage policy. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan has refuted this with three reasons – firstly, “if you raise wages overnight, and it is not competitive, the company will close”; second, “if you just raise the wage instead of improving the capability and training and education of the worker, you're just fooling yourself”; and lastly, “a minimum wage does not help the self-employed”. I feel that there is a way around this, by making the minimum wage high enough for the poor menial workers but too low for the average Singaporean. Firstly, most employers would already pay the worker above the minimum wage, even with this minimum wage policy. It will not cause employees to be less motivated, as it is the bare minimum for a salary. But most importantly, it targets employers who mistreat their employees and do not give them enough of a salary to sustain themselves.
Next, the SDP encourages “hiring Singaporeans first before considering hiring foreigners”. However, what is currently being encouraged in Singapore is hiring on merit. I personally agree more with hiring on merit, as this would both benefit employers and employees. Why? Firstly, the employer would be able to obtain the ‘best man for the job’. He would be able to obtain talent to carry out his goal, no matter whether the talent is foreign or local. Next, it is fairer to the foreign employees who truly has more talent but cannot be hired because he is not a Singaporean. Furthermore, this would motivate Singaporeans to work harder.
All in all, I am not convinced by this video. Why? It is blatant propaganda.
Most of the things in life are propaganda. Your teacher telling you to do your homework is propaganda. Your senior promoting their CCA during SOO is propaganda. That PAP poster (and other parties’ posters as well) plastered on that lamppost during the Elections is propaganda. As such, the way you put this off just because it is “blatant” propaganda cannot put me off more.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, all political parties are expected to deliver tons and tons of propaganda. After all, they are political parties, with the final aim of getting the most number of votes possible. Instead, look at what they are saying, whether it makes sense.
Now, the minimum wage issue is very touchy, simply because a wrong move in either direction can cause potentially dire consequences. There is no doubt in my mind that many (but not all) Singaporeans are pampered, and they cannot stand jobs that require them to dirty their hands. However, from another point of view, I see that a low wage wouldn’t affect foreigners as much as Singaporeans. Due to the strong valuation of our SingDollar, $1000 here become five thousand in China, but doesn’t increase at all here. A foreign talent from China would definitely be able to benefit, and his family back home would enjoy life.
Imagine this: You are a blue-collared construction worker drawing a monthly pay of $1000. You need to support 2 children and your spouse. You have the CPF, the income tax, and the 7% GST on everything you buy. Literally. When the school fees and household bills come, you really cannot survive anymore. So, how do you survive? Food for thought (: