I am the Minister of Education
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Come to think of it ... why can't they introduce a minimum wage system? or some kind of labour law....? They can always poll the population to find out if they are interestedOriginally posted by genie99:I'll agree with you again..... its really up to SGs -
Actually they do...they use consultants to gather intelligence on how much employers/businesses will take if they raise taxes or impose a minimum wage. The experience of Europe has shown that if you have a minimum wage, that will automatically become the maximum wage a new employee can expect. To make sure workers have decent wages, you will have to raise the minimum wage to a decent level. But that will mean higher costs for employers, who will have to pay the minimum wage to foreign workers as well.
The UK minimum wage is 5.52GBP per hour or S$15.50. If you hire a waiter to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, the bill comes up to S$2480. Pretty decent, you might say. But can the restaurant afford to pay this to its lowest-paid waiters? All the PRC workers will flock to Singapore and there will not be a shortage of waiters. Instead, the restaurant owners will either increase your bill or pack up and set up shop in JB or Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong, our closest competitor, does not have a minimum wage, we will lose out in competitiveness. The luxury restaurants like Les Amis will not have a big problem....your dinner bill may go up from $600 to $650 for two....not a big problem. But the coffee shop owner may have to close shop, because with his clients he cannot afford to pay 2.4k for a coffee shop assistant.
But maybe the UK rates are too high. Let's use rates in Asia then. The minimum wage in fellow industrialized nation South Korea is 30,160 won or S$46 per day. The waiter who works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month will now cost only S$920. The employer is happy, because he now can reduce the salaries of all his workers to just $920 a month, because that is perfectly legal. It's good for business, but is it good for Singaporean workers? -
double post
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Yes it's a paradox ...... which is why i think the high income bracket should have higher tax than its current tax rate whatever that is, and have a realistic minimum wage law.... meybe not as high as UK like you pointed out we don't want the employers running away too.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Actually they do...they use consultants to gather intelligence on how much employers/businesses will take if they raise taxes or impose a minimum wage. The experience of Europe has shown that if you have a minimum wage, that will automatically become the maximum wage a new employee can expect. To make sure workers have decent wages, you will have to raise the minimum wage to a decent level. But that will mean higher costs for employers, who will have to pay the minimum wage to foreign workers as well.
The UK minimum wage is 5.52GBP per hour or S$15.50. If you hire a waiter to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, the bill comes up to S$2480.
But can the restaurant afford to pay this to its lowest-paid waiters? All the
The luxury restaurants like Les Amis will not have a big problem....your dinner bill may go up from $600 to $650 for two....not a big problem. But the coffee shop owner may have to close shop, because with his clients he cannot afford to pay 2.4k for a coffee shop assistant.
The minimum wage in fellow industrialized nation South Korea is 30,160 won or S$46 per day. The waiter who works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month will now cost only S$920. The employer is happy, because he now can reduce the salaries of all his workers to just $920 a month, because that is perfectly legal. It's good for business, but is it good for Singaporean workers?
There should also be a one-off tax for buying properties unless yer a first home buyer..... and that cash be channeled to provide a better standard of living to the low income earners. Tax rebate..... like if you are working and earn below "X" amt for that year you get rebate of "Y" amt.
I do see both sides of the coin as you pointed out ... i dunno what will be best for SG im no shooting star like them scholars....but i do now that the current living standard of the low income earners is TOO low
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u r using selective perception from wat u seen from few pple u seen.Originally posted by eagle:Degree do makes a difference.
My sis, on her way to 2nd upper degree, having an excellent uni CCA record, did not get through an interview.
A friend of mine, on her way to 1st class degree of CAP > 4.8 (over 5), having no CCA record at all, got through the same interview to the 2nd round.
But I understand what you mean, study well doesn't mean will work well. But supposed the work is the same, and the pay not much of a difference, the one with a better degree will usually get a higher chance for promotion.
That said, a degree is useful only if you are to become an employee.
i also have a prc friend who studied from nus. he graduated last year if a third class degree. now he is earning $4.1K working in a bank. comparing to some of his friends who have second upper working as engineer who take wif mere $2.5K.
one of my classmates who is a singaporean who obtained first class degree. he went for DSTA interview n got himself rejected. one of reason might be employers may not necessary want to pay someone wif high pays. -
well... the reason for this walkover minister is either he is an elite or he has some sort of relationship wif high authorities.Originally posted by ORIGAMIST:You had question the credibility of this " walkover" minister... my answer to you is he got a stack of papers that tell you that he is qualified and who is there to question them ? -
Not necessarily so.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:Actually they do...they use consultants to gather intelligence on how much employers/businesses will take if they raise taxes or impose a minimum wage. The experience of Europe has shown that if you have a minimum wage, that will automatically become the maximum wage a new employee can expect. To make sure workers have decent wages, you will have to raise the minimum wage to a decent level. But that will mean higher costs for employers, who will have to pay the minimum wage to foreign workers as well.
The UK minimum wage is 5.52GBP per hour or S$15.50. If you hire a waiter to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, the bill comes up to S$2480. Pretty decent, you might say. But can the restaurant afford to pay this to its lowest-paid waiters? All the PRC workers will flock to Singapore and there will not be a shortage of waiters. Instead, the restaurant owners will either increase your bill or pack up and set up shop in JB or Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong, our closest competitor, does not have a minimum wage, we will lose out in competitiveness. The luxury restaurants like Les Amis will not have a big problem....your dinner bill may go up from $600 to $650 for two....not a big problem. But the coffee shop owner may have to close shop, because with his clients he cannot afford to pay 2.4k for a coffee shop assistant.
But maybe the UK rates are too high. Let's use rates in Asia then. The minimum wage in fellow industrialized nation South Korea is 30,160 won or S$46 per day. The waiter who works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month will now cost only S$920. The employer is happy, because he now can reduce the salaries of all his workers to just $920 a month, because that is perfectly legal. It's good for business, but is it good for Singaporean workers?
If the restaurant according to you employs more minimum wage workers from India or China, then the poor of the country will suffer because wages are constantly forced down due to increased usage of cheap foreign labour. While price level maintains the status quo, there will be a decreased standard of living as low wage workers are less able to afford the basic necessities.
Price levels are always sticky downwards, as a business owner, if there is a business downturn and a decrease in orders for goods. Do you think?
1) Business owner will decrease selling price of goods to retain all workers.
2) Business owner will decrease workers to maintain the selling price of goods.
A good example is Nike. Their shoe production have all shifted to China from USA, but have prices come down or have prices maintain their previous levels.
Therefore an increase in low wage workers from 3rd world country can only decrease the standard of living for the local low wage workers.
If according to you, the restaurant owners all pack up shop and set up shop in JB or Hong Kong, there will be an increase supply of restaurants. More restaurants fighting for the same quantity of pie, eventually their earnings will decrease due to the increased competition.
Restaurants might not do well in other countries, because not everybody is accustomed to the local taste of a particular country. So for a restaurant to relocate overseas is not a practicality, there are other issues regarding tax and business laws. Try setting up a beef steak restaurant in India.
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regarding ite's environment, i can tell you guys, unless you're really motivated to study ( and i mean REALLY ), it would be easy to get into poly despite the competition..
i was from ite higher nitec, finished my o lvls a couple of years ago, applied for poly but was ultimately rejected due to the inflow of jc students coming in, as my grades werent the best ( just average ), i was unable to get into any courses at all.
spent a year in ite, realised that the teachers/lecturers there usually "see face" before making decisions of grades, discipline etc.
theres this classmate of mine, every morning buy mac breakfast for teachers and por their lanpa everydae. even when hes absent from school without reason, the teachers just close an eye about it. well, thats a minor thing you might say, but it made me question the professionalism of these teachers.
there are stories of the people from ite making it big out there but look at the statistics, its like a few percent of the entire cohort.
ite is not a bad school, in fact its much better compared to last time but the environment/facilities can never compete with polys and jcs.
perhaps i gave up too easily, but i left the sch after a year and went out to get a part time job and taking private dip classes, in fact, i feel more satisfied this way for some reason.
well, to each his own. -
frankly speaking, there is absolutely no way to survive in sg if u have only just an ite cert.
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Originally posted by Lin Yu:and he agrees that these sec 5 should go ITE
