Government looking into root causes of widening income gap
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SINGAPORE : The government is serious about getting to the root of Singapore's widening income gap.
Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen said the Ministerial Committee on Low Wage Workers was not looking at quick-fix solutions, but an overall philosophy to deal with the matter.
And he said creating jobs just to keep people employed was not the way to go, especially if the jobs do not have market value.
Dr Ng was addressing multiple concerns in Parliament on the issue.
Retraining, job redesign and re-creation are some policies on hand to help low wage workers but MPs wanted to know whether they have really helped.
"How does he address the concerns of those undergone retraining but still can't find employment or better job opportunities?" asked Dr Lily Neo, MP for Jalan Besar GRC.
Leong Horn Kee, MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC said: "The government should consider a more comprehensive review of the entire help package that we give to our lower income group. Are we doing enough to help bring up the level?"
Dr Ng said more work was being done to make sure that training was relevant for these workers.
He added that it was not enough to just come up with quick solutions or resort to welfarism.
Instead, Singapore has to find its own way to prevent a permanent underclass where someone is born into a disadvantaged class and can't get out.
Dr Ng said: "We don't want to perpetuate a permanent underclass. All the facts and surveys show us that your social economic background can disadvantage you because your children can't take advantage of educational opportunities."
"I don't want to rush the committee for quick and pat answers. I want solutions that are sustainable. These are structural challenges," he added.
Dr Ng also noted that the events like the Iraq war and SARS outbreak a few years ago had worsened the outlook for these lower end jobs.
- CNA /ls
First of all to reduce the income gap, I think the gov should make it compulsory for the 49,000 millionaires to donate peanuts everyyear to whatever charities. These millionaires can have their names published to glorify them (chinese want face).
Next, everyone living in HDB flats should have whatever they have donated to NKF given back to them.
Thirdly, the sons and daughters of these millionaires should be drafted into the army and serve 3 years. They have more peanuts in Singapore, so it is rightful for them to be more serious on protecting Singapore. Then all HDB dwellers' sons should only serve 1 year and be released into the working world as soon as possible to earn money and get experience. -
The government can bridge the gap by distributing each household with monthly household income of $7000 or less $1600 per year.
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ohhhh.... if cleaner and road sweeper job is all they can come out with... what is he talking now or did i see wrongly...
it read as "GOV is going to make income gap WIDER." -
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IMO, only a degree of welfarism can narrow down the income gap. What the government is doing appears to be making things worse. Elite will always remain elite.
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Ask them to look into the mirror and they will see the root cause.
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whatever they are doing is for show only.
do you think they are seriously looking into it?
why dont they reduce their salaries for a start.
they are always retrenching, outsourcing etc. in a company the highest overhead comes from the management.
it is always 'the rich gets richer, the poor poorer' -
Anyway i have a question, for this widening of gap between rich n poor, is it symbolize lesser n lesser middle income ppl as the gap get wider?
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no. middle income remains the same.Originally posted by Ogbunwezeh:Anyway i have a question, for this widening of gap between rich n poor, is it symbolize lesser n lesser middle income ppl as the gap get wider?
the upper 20% makes more and more while the lower 20% makes less and less. -
Election time coming soon.
Have to justify high pay. -
i hate to say this... but all this ang kon kia (puppets) are there for ppl like us pointing finger at them. one thing to note, they are paid peanuts so they dun mind.Originally posted by Agressor:Ask them to look into the mirror and they will see the root cause.
it really some other
idiot, beast, barbarian, creature, critter, glutton, lower animal, monster, monstrosity, pig, quadruped, swine, varmint
that was planted beside them that come out with all those
stupid, ass, blockhead, booby, dimwit, donkey, dunderhead, fool, halfwit, ignoramus, jackass, jerk, kook, mental defective, moron, ninny, nitwit, pointy head, simpleton,
idea and since these ang kon kia are paid they sign on the paper lo... it a duck soup
ang kon kia ~ no-brainer, good at taking others idea and make it his own credit and acclaim themself if it work out good.
out of point again... someone had come out with fast food van or something... it an idea where it work in other places but in SG... it died off,
WHY? one mental defective pig limit where these van can go and how long can stay at one spot. best part is the one who come out with the idea did not get a part in it. lucky him. -
they need to look at the cost of living also. not only is there a widening income gap, the cost of living has been increasing too ...
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there is actually no way of lowering the standard of living without hitting us. coz i think property prices is the root of all the problems.
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Healthcare costs are also high.Originally posted by dragg:there is actually no way of lowering the standard of living without hitting us. coz i think property prices is the root of all the problems. -
Well it is their fault- they lower income tax for the rich & increase GST, end up poor paying more. Also cut our CPF, no salary increase while the elite gets share options, big salary/ bonus.
The poor kids cannot get out of poverty trap- parents cannot afford to give them tuition so they end up in ITE while the rich kids gets scholarship/ study overseas.
It is a vicious cycle- those with low qualifications end up with low paying jobs.
They don't have the means/time to upgrade cos they are struggling to make ends meet. -
Yeah true. I agree with u on this.Originally posted by gerrykoh:Well it is their fault- they lower income tax for the rich & increase GST, end up poor paying more. Also cut our CPF, no salary increase while the elite gets share options, big salary/ bonus.
The poor kids cannot get out of poverty trap- parents cannot afford to give them tuition so they end up in ITE while the rich kids gets scholarship/ study overseas.
It is a vicious cycle- those with low qualifications end up with low paying jobs.
They don't have the means/time to upgrade cos they are struggling to make ends meet. -
Consider the global trend of ceos and upper management giving themselves raises and bonuses while outsourcing as many jobs as possible to 3rd world countries or temp staff. Of course income gap will widen lah! Singapore civil service also doing the same thing.
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Ok....no offence...but i guess we are finger pointing everyone for this. Why, simple, does the govt really own us a living? I dont think so ....Does the govt show biase with the income group....nah...(if they do, they wont even wanna mention it)
No one own us a living but ourselves....If the income gap is widen...why blame the rich? why not the poor? Why not say, the poor is poor becoz they are lazy...( yesh, does working 12 hrs a day means you are hardworking?)
If you want to live in a country with smaller income gap...try the 3rd world country. Coz our economic is driven by the rich...never the poor. So its wise to find out how you can get rich,rather than finger pointing people who doesnt even know you exist..... -
increase the mimimum wage and lower the maximum wage den..
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You want to pay more taxes?Originally posted by shade343:The government can bridge the gap by distributing each household with monthly household income of $7000 or less $1600 per year.
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you are talking like those people in insurance.Originally posted by titoo:Ok....no offence...but i guess we are finger pointing everyone for this. Why, simple, does the govt really own us a living? I dont think so ....Does the govt show biase with the income group....nah...(if they do, they wont even wanna mention it)
No one own us a living but ourselves....If the income gap is widen...why blame the rich? why not the poor? Why not say, the poor is poor becoz they are lazy...( yesh, does working 12 hrs a day means you are hardworking?)
If you want to live in a country with smaller income gap...try the 3rd world country. Coz our economic is driven by the rich...never the poor. So its wise to find out how you can get rich,rather than finger pointing people who doesnt even know you exist..... -
lets all leave singapore by leaving spore and live in other country
we will either come to appreciate singapore or glad that we left spore... -
this type of stupid thing also want to study.
the rich and poor don;t think the same.
the top guns in gov and the bottom don;t think the same.
every county also like that.
want to reduce the gap?
give more money to poor.
but nobody here qualifies as the poor are those below house hold income $1200 for whole family and stay in 3 rm below or rented.
so don;t be fool by the gov, they are worried the poor will not vote them. they have lost once in yishun central because the poor swing votes.
if ask gov to give more money to poor, most of you here will not get it unless you can certify yourself poor.
it is wiser to distribute some money to the really needy and unfortunate.
there are alot also take opportunity to certify themselves poor to qualify for a lot of schemes for needy and meanwhile earning side income on the side line.
it should be help the needy. -
Yes! I agree! Doing my best to leave Singapore.Originally posted by valentinoo:lets all leave singapore by leaving spore and live in other country
we will either come to appreciate singapore or glad that we left spore... -
don;t go, don;t leave us behind. go lobang bring me along but please we not for sale