This should be the Top Story today, not AWARE… It is Labour Day!

Unions= gahmen=employer. This is so called gahmen tripatite relationship!

Judge=prosecutor=defence

Can or not? Whose interests will be served?

What for May Day when the workers, especially Singaporeans, have no power whatsoever to fight for their rights?

What for May Day when Singapore unions are themselves employers who would ensure that their own commercial and profit-making enterprises take top priority over the rights and welfare of their workers?

What for May Day or Labour Day when only the RICH and POWERFUL and the WINNERS benefited the MOST and give peanuts to the workers?

What for May Day when the spirit of May Day is no more there?

The retrenchment figures are just that , retrenched numbers.
Total unemployed is retrenched PLUS unemployed like fresh grads, aunties, uncles.

If not because of Asian’s high savings rate, Many more than what is reported could be in serious financial trouble.

So, if not for this asian value, I suspect the situation to be worse.

This Asian value is not unique to singapore.

regards
Ah Hum

aiyoyo

the message well written by ELITEs.

by the way can someone actually look back/calculate

how much $ is actually shared to individual (when good economy growth)?

maybe old liao, do not remember much on $ collected leh,

but remember very clearly have been giving tax to the country,

sad story again…

aiyoyo

Best paid government, Worst GDP growth. A totally fail result in Singapore report card.

Happy Labour Day to all the poor and yet hardworking Singaporean. Salute you all though you were ignored and did not recceive the golden May Day Award.

Elections are drawing close right? Make your voices heard this time.

TOC: I agree with you about the growing income inequality in Singapore, it’s pretty apparent to anyone who takes the time to just walk the streets a little and open your eyes/ ears. But in the interest of ensuring a good quality of journalism, I would like to point out a few things:

The use of the Gini coefficient as a measure is not useful. At best it gives a rough indication of the inequality and a statistical measure for both sides to cite to their hearts content. Note that in the very same report that you mention the UN HDR, Indonesia had a Gini Coeffficient of 34.3. I’m sure anyone who does business there would find that number very amusing….

More importantly, the data you used is from the 1998 survey year!!!! It’s 10 years old, meaningless. In your defense, I would probably guess the coefficient went up in the past 10 years but please don’t use wrong data.

I dont want this to detract from your primary message but I hope you note my points.

It is Labour Day and it is time for lip service. Let the congregation gather near. Hear ye! Hear ye!

St reported Gan Kim Yong as saying this: “The tripartism relationship is based on trust and mutual respect“… like the DBS chief being the first to lay off its workers as soon as news of an impending downturn was heard. We mutually trustfully respect that this warrants a May Day Award of the highest order!

He aslo said; “We are the most competitive workforce in the world“. Indeed we trustfully and mutually respect the government for making us compete with all Toms, Dicks and Harries of the world until we have no jobs of our own!.

Singapore National Employee Federation president Stephen Lee says his wish is for” the Singapore worker to work for as long as they can“. Sure he can wish for it but what is he doing about it with NTUC president John De Payva saying, “We still have one million foreign workers sitting on our jobs!“.

John De Payva’s comment is also cause for concern to the foreign worker. He added; “…there are actually jobs available for Singaporeans if they are prepared to take on some of these jobs“.

So, John, we are ready to take on these jobs. Can you guarantee that you will send these foreign workers packing? I thought your bosses say it is no good to practice protectionism?

This Johnny also make the obvious sound so logically obvious. He said: “When you have a job, you also have a means of income.“. Wow! this is news indeed!

Another clown jumping on the lip-service bandwagon, NTUC assistant secretar-general, Ong Ye Kung wishes for, “stronger trust between employers and workers … (and)… stronger trust comes through hardship and sharing of
success. In this downturn … let’s ensure that our trust level goes up“.

Sharing success is the easy part, just throw out some peanuts and you’d think you have earned the trust of the people. Sharing the harship is just as easy if you are not at the receiving end. Which worker currently employed really trust that their employers would do all they can to look into their well-being before the well-being of their businesses? The mantra coming out from the government has been and still is, business first, people second. Trust my foot!

Only Halimah Yacob makes sense when she wondered “Whether we can still stay together as a nation, or whether this recession will bring in its wake latent conflicts and differences that will make us emerge a weaker and a more
divisive society“. the government ought to take heed of her warning.

On a separate topic… having traveled around the world quite a bit…

Our income disparity has grown a lot but I would like to share with the readers a few thoughts. Globalization has helped to free up the economy and remove a lot of frictional costs. It has helped many developing countries like India and China grow tremendously but I feel that the cost of globalization has been a growing income disparity through the developed world.

Anyone with friends in the British and US middle class may be able to sympathize with this. Their lots have not gained in the past 20 years while their bosses have.I don’t want to use this as an excuse for Singapore’s income disparity but I would like fellow readers to understand the true dilemma of globalization.

One more point I’d like to bring up to readers: Productivity gains through capital investments rarely last. The competition just catches up 2-3 years later since it’s just a matter of pumping more money in. True productivity usually is a result of a mindset change in the workers.

Still this topic is gonna be a dream that will never be realised.

Food should be made cheaper!

aiyoyo

not sure when our neighbours see the GDP chart

will they laugh until teeth drop?

seems that they’re better perform than us (1st world), OMG

aiyoyo

Only the top salary like the ministers are enjoying every assest singapore have.
They fed themselves freely with their power that they hold.
May DAY is just another BIG DAY for the PAPaya PARTY ONLY.

I can sense that Malaysia and Indo looking at the table, and laugh “Now who has the last laugh now, and who is the ultimate expensive clowns.”

Yes, they are been paid such high extraordinary salary to speak and point out the obvious…and to come out with funny quotes…what an extraordinary gahmen…

This article also brings another matter to my mind…are Singaporeans workers motivated? Their wages are stagnated or has even fallen…and yet the cost of their “shelter” HDB flat has sky-rocketed…they are not even satisfying their basic psychological needs….and so, does this means that Singaporean workers has lesser motivation?

Unique SIN formula where a government minister is also the labour chief; uniniosed worker lost their rights to protest.

May Day reminds us of the hugh disparity in salaries between top management and those who truely kept the companies running.

Soon the disgrunted & frustrated will just stop everything in their path and the city will come to a halt if they feel their injustice is not addressed.

Let not underestimate the power of the workers.

u want to strike is it? ok lor, I hire the PRC at half ur salary and twice your workload

LHL hope Singaporean can further lower our status and be realistic. I didn’t see him setting good example. He is not a busnessman but a leader mandated to move along the same path as Singaporean. Unfortunately, he chose one with roses and forsaked all those Singaporeans who have to face an unhill task alone.

May Day, is a day for all Singaporean workers to reflect on the past, our leaders report card and the disparity of income level between them and us. They have done enough of talking until the saliva can flood the surrounding seas, but have they provided equal help and action? Do they put Singaporeans above foreigners? I doubt so.

We can hardly smell their sincerity in the air except their smelly fart. Yes, the golden May Day Award belongs to everyone who shared the woe together and not to someone who lost all our life time savings and forced us to buy annuity. There is no equality in this nation, the ministers win, the people lose as simple as primary school mathematics. This must not be allowed to happen again, we must promise ourselves or die without a coffin in the current situation.

Has trade union chief, John de Payva done any kind of labouring with the foreign workers.
Yes or no.

The foreigners are made to work until they are half dead.

How do I know.

I used to work with them.

I could not keep up with them. Why? I was then 64 years old. I am now 69.

For me, I never say die and I worked to my ultimate limit and I could just keep up with them and I think I managed to carry out 80 per cent of their work output.

I was good to them. They were good to me.

I want this trade union big boss to do what I did. Then he will understand.

Leadership by example.

Like Alexander the Great and this great soldier and military tactician led from the front all the time. He had many wounds. Yet he did not die in battle. As my Croatian friend said, he was poisoned.

How about that – John De Payva?

wahaha this is becoming a follow up article for ho ching get may day award

I expect my PM to lead and show leadership qualities and instil confidence. But I am very disappointed.

How many times did he use the phrase “If we are lucky” in his May Day speech?
We might as well depend on 4D or Toto to help ourselves out of recession.

He used Swine Flu instead of H1N1 and our pork butchers will be feeling the effects tomorrow.

You are paid millions to lead and not depend on luck.

i do remember a line that says a rising tide does not lift all boats equally. the rich get richer?

bigger boat rises higher, smaller boats less so. no mention was made about a tide that capsizes some older or smaller 1s…

My May Day wish …. Abolished ‘ Performance Bonus ‘ payment resulted in
more jobs creation for rank and file workers .

I wonder what is the effect of USA CEOs pay capped to just S$740K per YEAR? Thats right , not per month.

What can be learnt from the Obama policy?

I learnt that CEO’s must perform to certain extent and their pay should not be guranteed without performance. Just my thinking on how to make the system better. I only mean the private sector CEO salary system. I think this is the fairest way – if CEOs lose money, they do not deserve huge salaries. I think $200K per year is more than fair for CEOs who led the company to losses. Actually best is to replace him or her by the next better player. I dont like to use the word SACKEM.

regrads
Pork And Pork

“In this downturn, Singapore will have serious strains if the less well-off feel left behind. As such, there is the need for a fair sharing of the burden with the more successful taking the lead in belt tightening.

Hence, companies imposing austerity measures must start with top management taking the lead by having cuts made earlier and deeper. ”

Why can’t it start from all the MPs first???

What is the expenditure of the total cabinet???

Where are we headed???

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