Halimah Yacob: “unavoidable†that middle-aged degree holders
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Halimah Yacob: “unavoidable” that middle-aged degree holders end up driving taxis
December 31, 2009
Many Singapore workers who were retrenched during the global financial crisis last year are still unable to find a job which commensurate with their skills and qualifications.
Known as “under-employment”, it is becoming a major issue which NTUC will tackle in the coming year. Under-employment is said to be more common among older Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs) who are the hardest hit during the economic downturn.
Halimah Yacob, Deputy Secretary-General, NTUC, said:
“He may be very qualified, very skilled, but the jobs that he wants to do and is willing to do is not available. He ends up doing a job that does not make full capacity, productive use of his capabilities. It also involves the case where jobs are not paying them the kind of salary or earning that they feel is commensurate with their qualifications and skills.”
Middle-aged degree-holders are hardest hit with some of them becoming taxi drivers when they lost their jobs during the economic downturn.
Madam Halimah said that this is unavoidable as with slow economic growth, job opportunities are limited.
Though the sluggish growth of the entire economy is a reason for under-employment, a key contributory factor is the relentless influx of cheap foreign workers into Singapore.
In the past, only highly qualified expats or blue collar workers are permitted to work in Singapore. In the past few years, foreign PMETs have flooded the Singapore labor market leading to intense competition with locals for jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them.
For example, IT engineers, assistant engineers and technicians are PMET positions which are now opened to foreigners leading to the stagnation of wages for Singapore workers.
Instead of encouraging companies to think of ways to increase their productivity and reduce their perennial reliance on cheap foreign labor, NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say exhorted Singapore workers to be “cheaper, faster and better.”
With the cost of living going up, especially that of public housing, transport and utility bills, many ordinary Singaporeans are feeling the squee.
There are no independent trade unions in Singapore to fight for the rights and interests of Singapore workers.
The largest umbrella trade union NTUC is a pseudo-government organization which is always headed by a PAP minister. Mr Lim Swee Say is a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office while Madam Halimah Yacob is a PAP MP.
Neither is there any opposition in parliament to check on the ruling party’s pro-foreigner policy either. Singapore PMETs have no choice but to put up with the current situation.
Even taxi-drivers are now facing stiff competition from cheaper workers from China and Vietnam.
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Why would they employ Singaporeans when they have an unlimited supply of cheap foreign labour from 3rd world countries?
Thanks to yours truly PAP government.
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"Affordable" talents.
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better "think" and "vote" wisely
can "they" do anything to "help" you
Halimah Yacob: “unavoidable” that middle-aged degree holders end up driving taxis
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this is called after yr 1997, i gave up on "them"
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Since it is clear that this PAP regime no longer serves interests of Singaporeans but chooses to serve interests of aliens, it is unavoidable for me to seek to end the power of this PAP regime by throwing all of my support into opposition forces.
They are paid the highest salary in the whole world.
This is the result they give us:
Halimah Yacob: “unavoidable” that middle-aged degree holders end up driving taxis
PAP. It is time for you to exit the scene of Singapore politics.
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Ge coming so "they" ... ...
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it's a problem of their own creation, when you have foreign younger degree holders displacing these guys, what else can they do except to drive cabs....
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PAP must be voted out of power in the coming elections, otherwise for the rest of the new decade, Singaporeans will have a bleak future.
We need a political shake up to revitalise the country after 50 years of repressive PAP rule.
The entire country, entire society needs a jolt.
PAP must be removed from power in next elections.
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Note: This is a repeat article, but it is a fact - proof.
By Amresh Gunasingham from Straits Times
COULD this be Singapore’s most well qualified taxi driver?
Dr Cai Ming Jie became an SMRT cabby last November after spending 16 years as a researcher at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).
His career switch has become a talking point online after he started a blog earlier this year. Alongside his experiences as a cabby, he takes issue with the circumstances of his departure from IMCB last May.
An SMRT spokesman confirmed that the former researcher is a driver with
SMRT Taxis, but Dr Cai declined to add more beyond this: ‘All that needs to be said is on the blog online…It should be IMCB that needs to be asked questions, if any.’
The China-born Dr Cai, who became a Singapore citizen, obtained a PhD in molecular biology from Stanford University in 1990.
The Straits Times learnt that he did a two-year postdoctoral fellowship after leaving Stanford at the University of Washington, under famed genetist Professor Lee Hartwell, who won a 2001 Nobel Prize in physiology.
He joined IMCB two years later and worked as a principal investigator in the field of cell genetics up till his departure.
A spokesman for A*Star, meanwhile, said renewal of all its researchers’ contracts is based on a number of factors, including the time taken to train PhD students, their performance and their contributions to the research institutes and the agency in general.
Dr Cai’s work, like that of all A*Star researchers, was assessed by an external Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which recommended his contract be terminated.
The spokesman said IMCB had taken the additional step of having Dr Cai’s work assessed by three independent experts, ‘all of whom supported the SAB’s decision not to renew his contract’.
He said the former researcher was given one year’s notice as well as advice and assistance to source for other prospects.
Still, in spite of the submission of countless curriculum vitaes and applications to universities, government agencies and companies since he was told he would be let go in 2007, Dr Cai failed to get a successful response.
Former colleagues feel his departure was unfortunate and a consequence of many factors. Having known him over the years, they say he is a reserved but bright scientist.
Dr Cai was also an adjunct associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS’) biochemistry department, where he supervised students doing research in cell and molecular biology. This appointment ended last year, an NUS spokesman said.
The former researcher now drives a four-year -old Toyota Crown. ‘At a time like this, the taxi business is probably the only business in Singapore that still actively recruits people,’ he said.
In his latest entry, dated Monday, he revealed that he will focus on writing when his six-month contract at SMRT Taxis expires at the end of the month.
‘After that, I plan to change to a new taxi operator…and continue driving and writing stories that come along with it.’
Source: Straits Times
My point is can "they" help us.
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Unemployed, unemployable middle-age graduates driving taxis.
The spurs are not stuck deep enough into the hide yet, should make them cheaper, better, faster by driving bullock carts instead.
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It's also unavoidable that PAP let in more foreign talents to upset the balance in the labour market demand and supply.
It's also unavoidable that Singaporeans have to compete with 3rd world countries for wages, but PAP Ministers are not even able to compete with advanced economies for wages.
Cheaper, faster and better only for the working class of Singapore, it doesn't apply to the PAP gods.
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Originally posted by deepak.c:
It's also unavoidable that PAP let in more foreign talents to upset the balance in the labour market demand and supply.
It's also unavoidable that Singaporeans have to compete with 3rd world countries for wages, but PAP Ministers are not even able to compete with advanced economies for wages.
Cheaper, faster and better only for the working class of Singapore, it doesn't apply to the PAP gods.
cost of living is damn f****** high
talk is free especially when it's talk cock and sing songs
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....so much problems in spore,.....
LKY: thats their problem!!!
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Take 2 hand to clap.
Employers should do its part. And not go for cheap cheap, green green , young young workers just to try to help save company expenses.
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Employer:Thats not my problem..please contact human resource....
Human Resource:Please contact manager
Manager:Please contact employer
Employer:Its the market rate in spore.....we will try to reassign you for a job suitable of your qualifications( You are fired)
LKY:Thats their problem!
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it's unavoidable that we will see more opposition figures in the parliament
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In a downturn, what's a degree worth?
Life skills needed to weather the crisis, says Lim Hwee Hua
05:55 AM Jul 13, 2009
DURING the recession in the late 1980s, more than one in five of America's college graduates ended up in non-college-level jobs. In such a bleak scenario, what is the value of a university degree?
Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, broached this question that must be on the minds of today's graduates in Singapore, given the current economic climate.
Her answer, to National University of Singapore (NUS) graduands yesterday: Plenty of value, and not just in terms of the technical competencies or analytical skills such an education imparts.
What's critical is "the foresight and gumption needed to recognise patterns of local and global change, to make critical interconnections" and stay "ahead of the game".
Such life skills had "enabled this same group of American graduates" to ecape the doldrums "and help propel the country into a period of unprecedented economic growth", noted Mrs Lim, who is also Second Minister for Finance and Transport.
And these skills will stand Singapore graduates in good stead also, with today's fast-changing marketplace and career movements.
The average United States college graduate has been found to hold some 11 jobs by age 42 - two-thirds of these before they even hit age 27, according to the US Department of Labour.
"You will not only need to learn to seize opportunities as they present themselves, but also need to be proactive in creating them.
"Your ability to adapt quickly to the changing tides - even if it means entering uncharted areas that you might not have been initially trained in - will put you in a distinctive advantage regardless of the economic situation," said Mrs Lim.
Yesterday afternoon's commencement ceremony involved some 300 graduates from the NUS Business School's Business Administration programme and 100 graduates from its University Scholars Programme.
Among them was Ms Charlene Chang, who - while other fresh graduates fret over finding employment in these times - secured her job a year back.
She starts work next month with the Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong, a position she secured immediately after finishing a 10-week internship at GBM Corporate Finance (Mergers & Acquisitions) at ABN AMRO, Hong Kong.
Earlier yesterday morning, the NUS Business School saw its first batch of accountancy students get their degree scrolls - notably, every one of them having already secured a job.SteveUpdated 08:48 PM July 13, 2009Degrees are just papers without our own effort to prove that papers are everything in today's society globally. What our local Universities should do is to incorporate entrepreneurship and financial/investing knowledge to make our grads able to self-sustain in times of economic downturns. Malaysia's universities and colleges have already included entrepreneurship knowledge so that new grads can look for alternatives rather simply wait for handouts or unable to get a good job match. As most of our forefathers were immigrants, whether from China, India, Middle East, etc we all should possess their 'immigrant mentality', determination, adaptation skills, etc so that we can as Singaporeans, survive anywhere globally. Grads don't have to depend on handouts but rather be proactive and take their own initiatives or create their own if they can.Mariann MaesUpdated 12:08 PM July 13, 2009"You will not only need to learn to seize opportunities as they present themselves, but also need to be proactive in creating them. "Your ability to adapt quickly to the changing tides - even if it means entering uncharted areas that you might not have been initially trained in - will put you in a distinctive advantage regardless of the economic situation," said Mrs Lim....... - Am I hearing this right? Ever since MOE was established, our kids have never been encouraged to think out of the box, and if he did and is out of line with the curriculum, the kid will be told off. Before we start criticising our workforce, let's take a hard look at the way our kids were brought up. That would give a clearer idea of why our human resources are zombies compared to our American counterparts. -
I took a cab few weeks back, the driver told me next generation pple will suffer, especailly spend hundred of thousands of dollars and come back work less than $2k per month. Not woth it at all.
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Life skill like being a mp or minister.
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no wonder, some local gahmen u graduate - become their own boss in food court or hawker centre, etc
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Tough times ahead for some job seekers By Yamada Kei Jan. 31 2009 With the global economy on the rocks, the local job market for recent graduates looks to be slowing down.
One of the employment worries of job applicants is that they might have to settle for a position they did not plan for originally. And that includes having to settle for less.
Lee Jianxing, a computing graduate from the class of 2008, had hoped to acquire a job in the banking sector.
After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally settled for a job in the IT industry. However, he had to revise his salary expectations to $2,500, far below the industry standard of $3,000 and above.This is not an uncommon story going by the interviews conducted by The Observer with nine recent NUS graduates.
Three of the interviewees said they took longer than two months to land a job. Another five accepted salaries lower than their expected minimum salary.
According to the October-December Hudson Report, hiring expectations have been in steady decline for over a year, and at present, ranks as the second lowest in Asia.
The survey reports that of the 800 executives in key business sectors, 37% are planning to increase headcount, as compared to the 43% of the previous quarter.
The Hudson Report is a quarterly survey forwarded to almost 6000 key Asian employment decision-makers from all major industries, covering the latest employment trends and their quarterly hiring expectations.
This downward trend in the job market growth follows last year’s climbing inflation and financial turmoil, and is a key indication of a bleak economic outlook.
On Oct. 10, 2008, Singapore became the first Asian nation to fall into technical recession as the government reported an economic decline for two straight quarters.
With the island state’s economic growth forecast being revised rapidly downwards, currently standing between a dismal -2.0 and -5.0 per cent for 2009, economists are predicting a worsening job market in the months ahead.
“A year back, everything was still fine. I didn’t think all the economic troubles would turn so bad. Now I regret putting off finding a job,” said Pricilla Woo, a 2007 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Arts.
Woo took a break in 2007, and began her job hunt in late 2008. Months later, after 50 applications and eight interviews, she is still jobless.
In the face of the dismal news, students set to graduate soon are expressing concern for their future job prospects.
“It’s worrying. I’m going to graduate, who knows how bad the job market could become by then,” said Arlianny Sayrol, fourth-year communications and new media major.
Yet, while some sectors are feeling the heat, the trend does not appear to apply across the board.
For example, the science graduates interviewed did not report difficulty looking for jobs involving their respective fields.
Serene Li, an NUS 2008 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in food science, said, “Yeah, I’ve heard that finding jobs is getting tough, especially in finance, but my friends and I in life sciences have not had any difficulty finding jobs. The pay is okay too.”
And it might not be surprising that some sectors, such as the life sciences, have remained relatively unscathed, since the hardest hit are those where the credit crisis first developed.
According to the October report released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, while unemployment rate is predicted to rise over the next few quarters, the impact in employment growth “will especially be felt in the manufacturing and financial services sectors.''
While graduates might not get their dream job in finance now, it is perhaps wise to settle for less than none at all amidst what looks like a deepening economic crisis.
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NUS students: Race, religion not worst threats By Khaliesah binte Mohamed Hatta Aug. 24 2009 The weakening economy, rather than race and religion, is the greatest threat to national harmony, according to NUS students.
In a non-scientific poll of 30 students from various academic disciplines conducted by the Observer, 70 per cent of respondents said they did not agree with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that issues of race and religion have the greatest potential to cause social unrest in Singapore.
Lee highlighted the twin issues of race and religion as “the most visceral and dangerous fault line” in Singapore during his National Day Rally speech on Aug. 16.
Instead of the double threat posed by race and religion, a majority of the students polled cited the current economic downturn as having the greatest potential to cause a rift in society.
Sangeetha Yogendran, a final-year student in the Faculty of Law, said that race and religion are not such pressing issues because Singaporeans have been educated in a pluralistic society and exposed to different types of people all their lives.
“At least with the younger and more educated Singaporeans, races and religion won’t disrupt our harmony at this point, as volatile as those issues can be,” said Yogendran.
The public school curriculum in Singapore stresses the importance of racial and religious tolerance, while the celebration of Racial Harmony Day serves as a constant reminder of the consequences that racial disputes can bring about.
For fourth-year computing undergraduate Zheng Junyi however, such initiatives actually reinforce racial differences.
“Race is an artificial construct which the government is enforcing on us, even though racial lines are becoming increasingly blurred. To me, and where I interact, race is usually not an important consideration.”
Not exempt from the global economic crisis, Singapore has suffered from a spike in unemployment, and its GDP shrunk by an unexpected 11.5% in the first quarter of 2009. To help Singaporeans tide over the crisis, the government has uncovered various financial schemes, such as a $20.5 billion ‘Resilience Package’ and sales tax-offset packages.It seems these initiatives do not suffice for some however.
Shahrul Fahmy, a second-year student from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), said, “Two hundred dollars is not enough.”
He suggested that the government could provide incentives for workers who undergo retraining when they lose their jobs.
“People (who lose their jobs) might have families who need to be supported and it also takes money for them to get to and fro (their) retraining places so they should be given some sort of monetary incentive to retrain because at the end of the day it's not a guarantee that you'd get the same job or same pay as before,” said Fahmy.
In addition to economic issues, respondents also cited the influx of foreign workers as a potential problem to Singapore society.
Adding foreign talent to the Singaporean workforce is crucial to ease the burden on Singapore’s ageing population, according to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
In a National Day celebration dinner speech on Aug. 13, Minister Mentor Lee said that attracting foreigners was necessary to make up for the babies that Singaporeans are not having. Singapore’s fertility level is currently 1.28, significantly lower than the population replacement level of 2.1.
Kirsten Andrea Francisco, a fourth-year student from FASS, sees the presence of too many foreign workers as a potential problem.
“They are new to Singapore and might not know how our society works. For example, they may be offended by our racist jokes, even though we don’t mean harm. Because of this, they will stick to their own communities, and as a result, become less accepting of others because they don’t mix around,” said Francisco.
She proposed increasing the minimum period of continuous residency required for foreigners to qualify for permanent residency. This would “ensure their loyalty and help them integrate into Singapore society.”
Currently, Permanent Residency permit applicants are not required to have stayed in Singapore for a minimum number of years.
Instead, conditions such as whether the applicants hold an Employment Pass, are investors or entrepreneurs, or are the immediate kin of Singapore citizens are taken into account.
Some respondents of the poll agreed with Prime Minister Lee however that issues of race and religion possess the gravest threat to harmony and cohesiveness in Singapore. For them, these issues are deeply rooted, sensitive and could contribute to societal division.
Siti Shafia, a fourth-year student from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, explained why religious differences could be threatening.“Some other things that can cause social division, like moral issues of gambling and homosexuality are still largely influenced by religion too,” she said.
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Unavoidable???
This is all PAP's fault! You caused the problem, you fixed it! You have to be blind, deaf and downright stupid not to know the real sentiments of Singaporeans right now.
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It's a "freak" occurence.
Let's move on.
