The 1972 amendment to the Industrial Relations Act allows companies to retrench workers without consultations to trade unions. Lee Kuan Yew was behind this amendment. Even NTUC then voiced out a lot of resentment against Lee Kuan Yew.

Seeing how Australia struggles to stay float with so many welfare benefits make me shudder. People have no sense of hard work and as many as half a million people are on the dole at any one time even during the booming years.

Though welfare payout is a paltry $220 a week, many chose not to work but of course some take on secret PT work so that they get to enjoy the dole hand out as well. Minimum wage here is around $550 a week even if you throw rubbish or sweep the floor. If one works in a supermaket as a temp he can earn around $15.00 an hour. Fruit picking is even more lucrative with some farms paying close to $20.00 an hour.

Though I am against welfarism which destroys the hard work enthics in us, we may have to slowly introduce unemployment benefit to our society. I know most developed countries have such payout and it could be costly to the taxpayer. Some may even be hooked on the dole and preferred that to work as who really wants to work for a living in Singapore? The long hours and miserable pay are big deterrances.

The govt can implement a hybrid version of paying unemployment benefit so that the unemployed will not be hooked and the payout may be subjected to conditions such as a fixed period of payout (max 6 mths) and proper job search conditions attached. CDCs currently provide some form of unemployment benefit but subject to very stringent pre-conditions so much so that some may not even want to apply for it. I think I have written more on this in one of my comment earlier in this link.

I agree with you even though it contradicts against my moderate socialist (note: not communist) leanings. “That government is best which governs least” (Paine or Jefferson).

We should develop this thinking more.

In fact, I have seen writings that suggest even education should be out of the govt’s hands. Although I don’t fully subscribe to that, I’m not going to let our schools get in the way of my daughter’s education.

The ugly truth is that governments do not necessary exist for handouts. Living in Singapore is a proof of that. In fact, the government’s job is to provide public goods and services. Any time more than providing the public goods and services is optional, depending on the choice of the government of the day. Most importantly, if we are more self-reliant, the government will have to play a more active role in wooing our support.

Public goods and services include:
1. Military Security (e.g. Singapore Armed Force)
2. Law & Order (The Judiciary, The Courts, The Police Force)
3. Public Health & Hygiene (eg. vaccination)
4. Environmental Regulation (e.g. Clean Air)
5. Finance Policy (e.g. overseeing S$ FOREX rates)
6. Education
7. Economic Policy (e.g. attracting investment and creating jobs)
8. Foreign Affairs (e.g. building good relations with other countries for mutual benefits)

What this govt can do, at least, is to listen to people like Observer (SG-HK) & Donaldson Tan and take up some of the suggestions put across to them.

At least do the easy job of listening and act accordingly. What can be so difficult?

Hi Donaldson, while i agree tat we shouldn’t always depend on gov to give handouts but if we citizens are totally self reliant, then wat r they for?

While i agree tat we should do something about the situation such tat in times of need, we won’t be so jia lat, but at the same time, we should do something about the fact tat we aren’t getting any help? Wat i’m trying to say is tat, we should work toward a more Pro Citizen Nation…

Thus i agree with u, remeber the topic on the Independent Committee to work with EMA?
At the same time, i also feel tat we should work on another direction which is to improve the current system.

Let’s work for a better SG. =D

It’s everyman for himself. – singaporedaddy (#32)

Your attitude that it is every man for himself is what that makes everyone so dependent on government handout. We, the citizens, need to build self-reliance capacity at the community level, so even when government does not want to give handout, we can still depend on each other to tide through the hard times. We cannot continue to be bullied and remain so dependent on government policies. We need to be more resilient.

As for Singapore -its retrenchment exercises can be wierd timings – happening in recession and economic crisis and the realreasons for it can be to trim “excess staff ” of previous regimes; sometimes it may also be deliberately done by a new CEO trying to impress his board of directors with his bottom line achievables. There is really no one reason for job layoff and retrenchment.

Between the “devil “( retrenchment ) and the “deep sea “( investing into unknowns) it is the “devil” time now and it is co-inciding with our economic woes!
Previously it was ” deep sea ” time – investing heavily into banks in China (SAR); and the two activities – investing & retrenchment can actually be related in begining & end episodes.

Of course, no one can predict the future as accurately as one wants to – otherwise MM would not utter about Singapore’s golden era so soon.

And of course in retrenchment – one can see exactly what is going to happen next- how many more jobless, re-training programmes, workfares (WDA), etc . It is unlike the Temasek investment efforts in Merill Lynch- where one morning the investment officers woke up to it being disappearing into BOA, and now without doing the a,b & c of investment into child learning in Australia, is finding out that ABC Australia is also fast disappearing ( for that matter SQ’s investment in ANZ also disappeared ).
Citizens cannot choose ” the devil” (retrenchments) or the “deep sea” (investing into uknowns) but they cannot like investments disappear so fast over time – so fight back with will & determination, hang on and you can become stronger & dignified, and you may even decline the Government handouts if they do actually come by next year.

Best Wishes.

Do you have numbers to correct our misunderstanding. On the different categories especially.

Many are of the impression theirs is a “iron-rice’ bowl comes rain or shine. Perhaps, we have mistakenly extend our views on the ‘highly-paid” leaders to those lower-rank-and-file personnel.

Concrete figures will be good. Care to provide any lim. Just tabular broad scale categories will do.

Take the ST for example, despite being a monopoly, you would have thought its impossible to lose a one horse race. Even so they managed to do the impossible – ST is languishing; and it owners seem stricken by an utter failure of entrepreneurial imagination needed to prosper in the electronic age – and you want to increase the price of the rag by a further 10 cents – I say, you go and die lah – you could just as well superimpose this on Science Park , Suzhou and probably a handful of govt initiatives that are really going around in circles – my point is; if you look to govt as the solution; you’re a dead ducky.

Having said what I think gahmen should really consider doing is releasing much needed capital to ordinary folk like myself who genuinely want to start businesses and be my own boss like Darkness.

People like Darkness are not affected by this downturn. Infact, they’re gobbling up businesses in the US and EU at rock bottom prices!

I mean what’s the point of giving it to me, when I am 90 sitting in a wheelchair with tubes sticking out of my nose? I don’t need it then. I am young now and I am good to go; all I need is a tank of gas and off I go as I will be retrenched very soon. Besides, its my money, I worked for it – currently, my only option is the local Ah Long because banks themselves these days seem to be suffering from a credit squeeze. That’s no good.

Never mind, if it cuts to the marrow, I will go Dubai or Russia, but one thing is clear from this point onwards – I am not looking towards gahmen, if they don’t squeeze me more with dummy 22% electricity tariffs, that even agent Molder and Scully of X files cannot explain, I am happy already.

It’s everyman for himself.

SD (Internet Liaison of the Brotherhood)