Economics, Main Stories - Written on Monday, October 12, 2009 4:45 - 60 Comments
Re-evaluating the Singapore story
In February last year, French President Nicholas Sarkozy called for the re-evaluation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the primary method to measure a country’s living standards.
(Left: HDB flats in Ang Mo Kio, Photo Credit: Timmo Sippala)
The effectiveness of the GDP has been called into question in the light of events happening across the globe including the recent credit crisis.
To answer the call, a team of economists led by the Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen was assembled. After months of tedious research, the report was released online. Its findings and recommendations have a special significance for Singapore.
GDP and the Singapore story
The GDP has always played a vital role in the Singapore story. MM Lee’s memoir “Singapore: From Third World To First” describes the transformation of Singapore from a humble colony to a bustling metropolis – defined primarily by Singapore’s expansion in GDP. In key addresses to the Singapore public, government officials constantly describe Singapore’s performance in terms of GDP.
For instance, MTI evaluated Singapore’s performance only in terms of GDP expansion and contraction in various sectors in its latest report “Performance of the Singapore Economy (11th August 2009 )”. The GDP has become the yardstick in which our government measures its own success, and by extension, the public that votes them in every general election.
However, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen warned that over-reliance on the GDP as the main yardstick can be detrimental:
“GDP is the most widely-used measure of economic activity… As statisticians and economists know very well, GDP mainly measures market production – expressed in money units – and as such it is useful. However, it has often been treated as if it were a measure of economic well-being. Conflating the two can lead to misleading indications about how well-off people are and entail the wrong policy decisions.”
As such, a broader measure than the GDP is needed to assess the well-being of Singapore:
1) Emphasising the household perspective
On a macroeconomic level, Singapore’s economic prospects have always looked healthy. Before the global financial crisis, Singapore’s GDP has risen steadily over to a last few years, growing by 9.9% in 2006, 13.8% in 2007, and 2.3% in 2008. Also, due to small population, this gives us a healthy GDP per capita figure, ranked 22nd out of 180 countries according to the 2009 IMF Report.
However, these figures are calculated on a national basis. It has been demonstrated that while in real GDP per capita levels have increased in many OECD countries, real household income levels have increased at disproportionate levels. In other words, although the GDP has been expanding, how much of the expansion actually translated into more wealth for households?
It would be erroneous to suggest that the government hasn’t been tabulating these figures. On the contrary, the report “Household Sector Balance Sheet 2008: Recent Trends and Developments (September 2009)” covers many of these questions comprehensively. Yet, there is still more room for the household perspective to be emphasized, especially in light of the next factor.
2) Giving more prominence to income distribution
In many of the statistics used by the Government, such as in the aforementioned reports, total or average figures are used. However, if one solely depends on these figures, a crucial point is overlooked; namely, how income or wealth is distributed across Singapore society.
Over the last few decades, while the global economy has grown at an unprecedented rate, a casualty for many countries tends to be poorer households as the income gap widens. At a gini-coefficient of 0.481 last year, Singapore’s wealth inequality is more severe than the majority of countries around the world, including China and the US.
(Right: Gini Coefficient among Employed households, Credit: Key Household Trends, 2008)
In January this year, the report “Key Household Trends, 2008” was published, basically describing all the information pertinent to this issue – Median Household Income, effects of the Surplus Sharing Package, and Household Income Distribution.
However, three things stand out: firstly, reports dealing with such data seem to be released on a sporadic basis, with the last one published four years ago, and describing household trends until 2003 .
Secondly, the conclusions of the report are somewhat misleading; while the income gap has narrowed by 0.008 points from 2008 to 2009, this came only after a 7-year rise in inequality which saw the gini-coefficient increase by 0.045 points. Thirdly, despite it having immense value, the report was rarely given any attention, revealing the nation’s economic philosophy: GDP comes first, and issues like income distribution are an afterthought.
According to Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, traditional ways of measuring income inequality may not be sufficient. Other permutations should be considered too; many Singaporeans, for example, harbour suspicions that a large portion of the nation’s income tends to go towards higher-earning PRs and foreigners. New methods could be use devised to take into account factors like foreigner’s or PR’s income as well.
3) Redefining well-being
In Singapore, the concept of well-being is limited to material living standards. However, it is increasingly the consensus of researchers and academia worldwide that a number of other factors must be taken into consideration, namely health, education, personal activities, social connections, political voice, and environment .
For items like health and education, Singapore has certainly done very well, boasting a high standard of public health and education services when compared to other countries. However, Singapore still has a long way to go for other measures of well-being. Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen proposed the idea of factoring leisure time into the notion of quality of life:
“Once one starts focusing on non-market activities, the question of leisure arises. Consuming the same bundle of goods and services but working for 1500 hours a year instead of 2000 hours a year implies an increase in one’s standard of living. Although valuation of leisure is fraught with difficulties, comparisons of living standards over time or across countries needs to take into account the amount of leisure that people enjoy.”
A friend of mine once remarked that his decision to migrate to Australia was motivated by the fact that by though he worked fewer hours than he did in Singapore, he could earn enough to live as comfortably. While accounting methods for this remain primitive, it is an example of a factor not included in the Singaporean notion of well-being. Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen also emphasised the importance of political voice in assessing well-being:
“Political voice is an integral dimension of the quality of life. Intrinsically, the ability to participate as full citizens, to have a say in the framing of policies, to dissent without fear and to speak up against what one perceives to be wrong are essential freedoms. Instrumentally, political voice can provide a corrective to public policy: it can ensure the accountability of officials and public institutions, reveal what people need and value, and call attention to significant deprivations. Political voice also reduces the potential for conflicts and enhances the prospect of building consensus on key issues, with pay-offs for economic efficiency, social equity, and inclusiveness in public life.”
Leisure and political voice are example of non-market factors that contribute significantly to well-being. However, as quality of life and well-being are normative concepts, they will always remain notoriously difficult to assess. Until more established methods are conceived, it is nonetheless good in the meantime for Singaporeans to broaden their understanding of well-being, and not to just marvel at the next forecast which predicts a rise in GDP.
4) Sustainability
Finally, the last issue highlighted was that of sustainability – how it was important for countries to take into account not just present levels of well-being, but the ability to maintain these levels for future generations. Lured by the prospect of fast growth, many developing countries have been guilty of sacrificing the long-term for the short-term, abusing their environment or relying on unstable fiscal policies. Current indices for measuring sustainability has to be better refined, so policymakers would be better equipped to see beyond current horizons.
It must be said that in this respect, Singapore has generally fared excellently. The PAP has always prided itself on building policies that include the long-term view, in areas like economic policy, urban development, management of natural resources and environmental maintenance. Though these policies are definitely not beyond criticism, one would probably be wrong to accuse the government of suffering from myopic thinking.
Conclusion
In many ways, Singapore resembles a firm where its citizens, like shareholders waiting for the quarterly announcement of revenue, have understood progress solely in terms of GDP. The first problem is that like GDP, revenue isn’t everything; there are always costs to take into account, as well as the question of the revenue actually translates into actual value for the firm’s shareholders. The second problem is that Singapore is a nation, not a firm, so our understanding of progress shouldn’t be understood purely in the monetary sense. Let’s remember GDP alone does not measure the happiness, prosperity and progress of Singapore.
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60 Comments
great article
It is Uncanny.
It was as if the Nobel Laureates was taking the Singapore example as a case study for their project.
Now we know why we feel so lousy despite statistics showing the country doing so well.
The PAP used this rhetoric in the last GE : “Ask yourself whether your lives are better now then 4 years ago”.
I can’t say for myself or my family / friends that our lives are better today than 4 years ago.
In fact, they are worse, much worse than 4 years ago.
An excellent article. Well done Alastair. I personally have been sick of hearing GDP figures as if they were the be all and end all of everything. Pardon my lack of knowledge but i have a few questions for any economists out there…..
1) is infinite GDP growth sustainable
2) given singapore’s space constraints, how will economic growth be balanced with land shortage and the necessary increase in population that will be needed to maintain economic growth at the current levels?
if anyone can clear my head about these things, it will be greatly appreciated.
A good article, food for thought.
Interestingly, today’s Today published an article about abuse of job credits. Some ppl suspect that companies are “redistributing” wealth within the company by “creative staff movement”. Technically, the company can be doing well, but it does not apply to every employee evenly per se.
So similarly, GDP tells us our country/company is getting richer or doing just as well, but not all citizens/employees are reaping the rewards. Like Alastair mentioned, need more probing into the details, establish some world standards.
If the company is doing well, jobs credit should be re-distributed among staffs of all levels.
By exporting more pills certainly helps the GDP figure. But how would the general populace benefit from it?
It is wrong to solely look at GDP.
How is GDP calculated?
Who Audits this number?
To the layman is it that he just accepts whatever GDP is reported?
How can the layman be sure and check if the figure is correct?
Or is it that the GDP released is and will always be 100% accurate ?
Can anyone answer these questions?
so its look great on papers or the 154th news medias…
doe this figure benefit you or me? except the socalled diehard supporters of the pap rulin government and marboroughtanntheshortarsh himself..
today i am still havin 1 proper lunch reasonable meal
by nightfall i have to alternate my dinner menu..1 night 1 hawker meal the next night 3-in-1 beverages with biscuits/bread as dinner….
4 years ago………………?
i was havin a great time karaoki/starbucks/joochiat circles………
to 7)
GDP is the total value of goods /services produced in a country, and it can be tabulated in three ways: total expenditure, total output, or total factors.
You can see these methods on the official gov statistics website. For total expenditure, you can refer to here –http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/economy/ess/essa15.pdf. For the output approach, please refer here — http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/economy/ess/essa11.pdf.
I understand your concerns abt the accuracy of these figures but I can assure you that they should be generally reliable. The government is very very serious about making sure the data is accurate because they craft a lot of policies around these figures. It also doesn’t make too much sense for them to fabricate the GDP. In the recent downturn, you can see that they were very transparent about reporting how our economy was suffering from the effects of the crisis.
Great article, as always from TOC.
Everything is not as rosy in Singapore as the PAP Government paints it to be, and wants us to believe in.
This new methodology of measuring standards of living in a country by GDP numbers reveals more accurately the real Singapore.
Except for the elites, the rest of us live to work for the GDP numbers so that the PAP Government can look good.
That’s all we are to our S$ Million PAP Ministers.
A facade, that’s all it is, our Singapore.
… same as our PAP Government, now that we know how to look at GDP numbers.
## 8) whatisGDP on October 12th, 2009 10.34 am
“4 years ago………………?
i was havin a great time karaoki/starbucks/joochiat circles……… ”
My Story :
4 years ago I was employed and earning a decent salary supporting my family.
Then a foreigner took over my job.
Now I can’t afford to go anywhere except the nearby coffeeshop, read the papers, walk the street, pretend to look busy, count the lamp posts and if got money take a bus to Geylang / Joo Chiat… not to do what you used to do but to look-see, look-see only.
Good article.
It’s going to be an interesting next few years for the government. The population is more educated and know that GDP growth is now not the sole indicator of economic well being. I wonder what the government will do with regards to the rising disparity in income distribution. They cannot just ignore it anymore when it is getting more obvious that societal issues are increasing.
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 12 Oct 2009
[...] are fed, up with progress! – TOC: Re-evaluating the Singapore story [Thanks [...]
Great article!
I think that over time, perceptions of success vs failure will change. People will use a different yardstick to measure the quality of their lives, and the government of the day will have to adapt its policies according to such preferences.
The government is NOT afraid of Singaporeans now. See how MM can publicly & blatantly announce that even if they were to lose the election, no worries, he has already spent 15 years putting in safeguards to block the removal of the Armed forces chief, Police Chief,,,etc plus our President & our national reserves. He is saying so what? He is saying that PAP will always be in charge.
Throughout world democracy & history in the free world, no such nonsense has even come close to such evil politics other than dictatorship. This is the extent of the corrupt, vile and greed PAP has become. Singapore is clearly a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah*
The ONLY way to restart Singapore and return the city state back to any semblance of a good caring economy, slowly but surely, is to REMOVE these blood sucking parasites! There is really NO short cut.
Let the forces of DISSENTt generate CHANGE for the better. At least when the massive votes goes to the opposition, it will confirm once and for all to world media that there is more than one junta in Asia.
Only difference-we have a more more deadly one operating under the guise of “democracy” cos they hide behind all the facade of “self serving rules and laws”. This is what you get when you let a lawyer run anything. Know the law, abuse the law.
*Sodom & Gomorrah in reality were widely and scholastically believed to be wealthy cities that derived most of their side riches from evil means ( eg: robs & pilfers). They celebrate the rich & powerful and shuns and penalize the poor and are weary of strangers. Engages in all manners of materialistic debauchery without fear.
Amartya Sen’s ground breaking work was on study of famine in Bengal during era of British India.
He realise that the famine was fabricated by government because it do not need to answer to people.
In concluding, he elucide that famine never occur in democratic society because the government need to answer to people.
Singapore trouble is that we have a “strong government”.
keep the good and throw out the bad
“he has already spent 15 years putting in safeguards to block the removal of the Armed forces chief, Police Chief,,,etc plus our President & our national reserves. He is saying so what? He is saying that PAP will always be in charge.”
The enforcement of safeguards is still subject to the vagaries of humans, whoever may be in power. If it is enforced correctly, keep it. If it is not enforced correctly, you just need to change it or the people who are not enforcing it in accordance to the good spirit / intention of the safeguards, and yes for the general overall well-being of the people and not for the perpetuation of a particular self-appointed group.
16) keep the good and throw out the bad on October 12th, 2009 12.54 pm
Agreed.
Remember the ‘Graduate Mother’ scheme which was implemented some years ago by the PAP Government after the Old Man came up with it ??
The vote swing against the PAP was around 15 – 18 p/c in the GE after the scheme was implement and had to shelved soon after (in parliament by Dr Tony Tan to the applause of our dear Dr Toh Chin Chye).
As for the FT and pro PR policy of the last 5 years ??
Let me make a guess.
If the Graduate Mother’s scheme was a tidal wave for the PAP…
The FT / PR policy is going to be a Tsunami against them.
u dont need a noble laureate to crunch the figures
the affordability of the burger in terms of man hours need to earn is a good indicator
2nd if u see the number of old folks pushing carts collecting cardboxes and empty drink cans tolling under the heat is a BIG INDICATOR how well the
croony capitalist government cares for everyone well being
all the lip service does not cover the obvious
3rd if you wages are depressed by the FTs because of the open prostitution policies it indicates how well u are thought off (only during elections)
Sporeans need to wise up in voting people who shirk their responsibilities
and pay and feed the fat faces with big salaries
ask me again I think most of my chums are still slogging on and our lives
have not improve. I know who has all the time.
We are wiser now
I know near to nothing about GDP.
BUT,
i do know that the Remuneration of each of the Minister in SIN is many, many thousand times that of my income as a daily rated worker.
patriot
Well I am not among those who believe that government hides the numbers. Being someone who earns the living by just crunching the numbers I feel that information provided by Singapore on critical areas is far better than that provided by other Asian countries.
Well coming to the issue of GDP and household income, I found something which I never myself anticipated and shows that the government and policy makers need to do way lot more to actually recoup the lost ground.
According to the government figures GDP at constant prices between 1999 and 2008 (after discounting the inflation) grew at the cumulative annual growth rate of 5.41 percent and during the nine year period the economy expanded by 60.8 percent from S$145.2 billion to S$233.5 billion. This by itself was not a modest achievement, given the fact that there were events such as 911, SARS and global financial crisis.
However, while the economy was experiencing significant boost and we were seeing such new additions to our landscape such as Esplanade, Singapore Flier, F1, Jurong Island and new casinos in Marina, along with new condos being built for affluent segment of the society, there other developments happening in Singapore’s demographic profile, which need serious review. The natural growth in population which was reported as 0.85 percent in 1998 went down to 0.58 percent in 2008. In the meanwhile the population of Singapore residents (which the government defines as Permanent Residents and Citizens) grew by 14 percent during nine years period between 2000 and 2009 at the cumulative annual growth rate of 1.47 percent.
With respect to the household income scenario the figures was quite revealing. The following figures were reported by Statistics Singapore website in the occasional paper on Household Income Trends
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/papers/people/op-s15.pdf
In 1999 median resident household income from work was S$3500. This figure grew to S$4,950 in 2008. That represents 41.4% growth in median household income over 9 years period an cumulative annual growth rate of 3.92%. However if we take into account the inflation and discount the price increases the figures tell a different story. If we apply 2000 prices on the household income figures the total growth in median household income over 9 years period get reduced to 23.1%. Similarly the cumulative annual growth rate in the medium household income figure get reduced to 2.34% during this period.
In the meanwhile the ratio of average income of top 20 percent to bottom 20 percent households grew from 10.1 in 2000 to 13 in 2008. I believe there is a serious issue of re balancing the resources and energies to address this issue.
Just to give a comparative figure medium annual household income from work for 2008 was S$59,400 per household or S$16,971 per resident (permanent residents and citizens). This compares against GDP per capita figure of S$46,821 for 2008.
Since the question is about income inequality, why don’t the statistician compile a list of the bottom income earners. How much do they earn back in 1998 compared to 2008. How wide is the gap between their annual pay rise compared to the annual rise in cost of living. What is the income ceiling for one to be considered living under poverty. Earning $1000 in Singapore is not the same as earning $1000 in Philippines. Many Singaporeans complain about the high cost of living but we were constantly told our income has actually risen and that we’re very fortunate to live here. Why are there so many Singaporeans contemplating for a better life overseas. GDP per capita is indeed a very poor gauge of a society’s well being.
“For items like health and education, Singapore has certainly done very well, boasting a high standard of public health and education services when compared to other countries.”
As with other factors, how do you measure this? Comparing to where I have lived, the standard of public health and education in Spore is poor, so what yardstick do you use to say it is better.
Have we ever compare the number of sick esp cancer stricken in Spore with some other countries? The quality of food in Spore, poluted city air and the lack of rest or relaxation and exercise are contributors of poor health. Spore’s general practitioners also sell medication at the same premise, leading to many doctors prescribing/selling antibiotics for all sorts of viral illnesses like colds and coughs, even for young children. In many instances of my family’s eperiences, the antibiotics are pointless but more worrying is they weaken the immune system. I only know about this after reading up on antibiotics which seem to be the ‘cure all’ by Spore GPs.
On education, if the measurement is by PROVISION of education to every child, then I agree that Spore compared to say India, is much better. However the standard of education is very questionable. There are many Ris Lows who cannot inject any substance to their speech (including some home grown ministers) and lack articulation or thought and creativity. Yes, the writers and many commentators in TOC are brilliant, but I suspect many either learn from experience or are further educated overseas.
21) Muhamad Nur on October 12th, 2009 7.48 pm
“Statistician compilation” by whom? PAP? forget it, must as well get it from the MSM, no difference anyway, everything is being tweaked or faked these days.
#20…Fahim,
well spotted. population increase(FT mainly) has improved GDP greatly, since consumption and investment would have multiplied several times over.
The median income adjusted for inflation would give a better picture. Perhaps toc should look into it.
For more good years people, better start to wake up.
What an excellent article. Imagine such material being printed in The Straits Times — the editor will probably get chopped within seconds!
The only point I can find fault is the definition of Sustainability. This is expressed in monetary sense, not in the only resource that we have, i.e. the true-Singaporeans. One source mentioned we will be at 1.09 this year, ranking 3rd from the bottom of 224 countries. Grow money, not babies seems to the legacy of Singapore — is this not myopic thinking started with the Stop-at-2 policy?
ali at 9),
You have completely missed the point. The article had never suggested that the economic data is fabricated. As a matter of fact, the author has quoted, amongst others, statistics from the government’s published data to support his argument. I suggest you re-read the article, especially paragraph 3 of this article to understand what the author was trying to illustrate.
Transparency is a relative concept. You might think one party is being transparent, probably because the skeletons in the closet are not revealed. You will be amazed how fast your perception can change once the worms are let out of the can.
Hi Depresso #27,
Ali #9 is the author of this article. (,”)
Cheers
Donald
Deputy Editor
The Online Citizen
ali at 9),
My apologies regarding the first paragraph of my posting. It should be retracted. I maintain my position in the second paragraph of my posting though.
People who got retrenched may also suffers from mental stress. Is the govt going to pay for our counselling?
Vaguely, I remember that before 2002 GDP was calculated on an output approach but after 2002, the new methodology added an expenditure approach. I wonder if the GDP growth after 2002 real or it is just due to the methodology change?
i have ideas how the GDP worked but i do know damn well that i am getting less in incomes and so much more to pay for expenses in sg and most of all getting much less in business opportunity in sg as well.
THIS IS REALITY!
Selective reporting to show just one good side of the story and bury the bad news? This is sadly what PAP regime had done for many years. The country poor and economically disadvantaged had been left out of the economic grown during the good time and had been left on its own to fence for themselves during the recession. We had become a country without any compassion and with the cost of medical care rising faster then incomes, the poor and the middleclass are suffering.Sinkapore is fast becoming a country only fit for the rich and powerful, a beautiful play ground for those who could afford it. This is our country and it is up to us to make it into a country that all Sinkaporean could called it home. The FT/FW is better off then we local born and yet we are supposed to defence the country. It does make one wonder what are we defencing?The voice of the people must be heard and we could could do it come the general election as it is our only means to do so. So please exercise that vote carefully, fellow Sinkaporean.
@30) loop on October 13th, 2009 10.07 am 30) loop on October 13th, 2009 10.07 am
Nah, the $10 million allocated to NIC is to baby-kissed the 533K PRs here and whores like Zhang Yuan Yuan, not to reintegrate the 3+ millions Singaporeans. In short, we die our business.
#26 theforgottongeneration on October 13th, 2009 12.53 am
The “1.09″ refers to our Total Fertility Rate (TFR). Apologies for any confusion. Again, I maintain that any analysis of Singapore’s economic success should take into account our deliberate failure to sustain the pool of true-blue Singaporeans over 30+ years.
Would anyone sing only praises for the Nazi-Germans military achievements (at their peak, they control a global area larger than had say Napolean) without also having to examine the atrocities committed?
I believe there are more poor Singaporeans now than four years ago. Many are even so-called ‘hard-core poor’. It is a very sad situation.
I don’t believe the PAPies know what they are doing. They bring in foreigners because they say Singaporeans are not reproducing themselves. Greying population? How come then most foreigners are in their 40’s and 50’s? Makes no sense to me.
Also PAPies lost our CPF monies and then prevent Singaporeans from withdrawing it when they reach retirement age. Say things like stopping senior citizens from spending all their CPF. How come old foreigners no need to have big CPF savings. Many old foreigners bring in their grandparents. Many of them appear sickly to me. What happens when they become seriously ill when staying here? Who pays for their medical if they have no cash and insufficient CPF? Send them back home? Use taxpayers’ money?
Time for Change. Vote opposition.
民主民主，你是民我是主。
—-PAP
I bet that Singaporeans who can vote are EAGERLY waiting for their next opportunity to send a message :)
What people don’t want to talk about is that the usage of FT to help “prop” up the population is also being done to help maintain a racial majority (sorry “harmony”) in light of the fact that internal-population growth of the three main racial groups in Singapore is not equal and is leading to a change in % of population.
If FT policy was all about simple population growth then the countries from which these FT are recruited from would be uniform and evenly distributed…but we all know they are not.
I agree that GDP alone is NOT Enough to measure progress.
Singapore is attracting and has attracted a lot of so-called talents.
My question is, because i have no answer,
IS THERE ANY Whiz Kids ATTRACTED HERE TO BECOME Citizen?
Has any parents of any country of any Whiz Kids?
Why?
If anyone wants to use GDP as a gauge, it should be GDP per person, not total GDP.
The only hope for this island is a reversal of immigration/employment rules, correct the population back to 3 million. Then our infrastructure is not strained, house prices will fall to fair levels, and there will be enough jobs. So what if total GDP falls, i bet GDP per person will actually increase.
Life has certainly gotten much much worse for me and my family, in every aspect- finances, transport, human interaction, outlook in career and life. I have made up my mind to move out already.
42) angry_one on October 14th, 2009 3.05 pm
1. Yes they do use GDP per capita as a gauge when crafting policy, which is something that all countries do. Raw GDP is only used when looking on an international platform.
2. In the 1990s, America felt the first pinch of globalisation when American firms began the process of “outsourcing”. Industrial plants moved to China and services were outsourced to India. Today we live in a globalized world, where it is so easy to cross borders.
We have to understand that unless we are able to compete on a global level, our jobs will follow your decision… pack up and move out. So the govt’s policy of exposing Singapore to the rough competition of the world forces us to improve our competitiveness. It’s painful, but necessary in the long run.
Angry one, you’re quite right, life has got tougher here, especially the prices of public housing. If I sell mine now I really can’t afford a new one! Can’ t imagine my two girls in the future.There is a certain insanity going on here, and all this is cause by the government. If you can leave, go soon enough. Singapore is no more home to those who were born here. Good luck to you. It’s too late for me to go now.
@43) XiiAoGeNgEnX on October 14th, 2009 4.38 pm
“…..We have to understand that unless we are able to compete on a global level, our jobs will follow your decision… pack up and move out. So the govt’s policy of exposing Singapore to the rough competition of the world forces us to improve our competitiveness. It’s painful, but necessary in the long run….”
This is only true in a very, very narrow sense of …. GDP. Taken in the full context of sustainable population growth, cost of living, foreign intake policy, productivity, “interests of Singaporeans will always come first”, National Pledge, chasing loyalty of PRs over loyalty of citizens, etc., this argument is absolute rubbish.
To show the absurdity of this argument, why don’t expose our top ministers to more realistic salary levels since it has been shown that by paying a leader of a “more-powerful-than-SGP” nation a lower wage, he can bag a Nobel Peace Prize within 1 year in office?
The rough patches we are going through can be traced to failed or misdirected policies of yester-years, notwithstanding changes to the global economics/dynamics which is beyond the control of any country, whether large or tiny dot. I am not saying all our policies were bad, but definitely there are many screwed ones which are just stone-walled and the effects conveniently blamed on the world situation.
“We have to understand that unless we are able to compete on a global level, our jobs will follow your decision… pack up and move out. So the govt’s policy of exposing Singapore to the rough competition of the world forces us to improve our competitiveness. It’s painful, but necessary in the long run. ”
the reason why ministers are paid millions is because we assumed they have the talent to ensure that there will be no or minimal pain and great or at least steady progress inspite of globalisation.
if they can only think of ideas like what u said (& i, and certainly many many other sgreans) can think of, why do they deserve to be paid so much???
if they weren’t taking such obscene salary (and double standards at the same time) i guarantee u that the ground will not be so sour.
in fact if they were drawing pay comparable to other countries, i would have commended that they are doing a good job.
45) anonymous on October 14th, 2009 9.35 pm
I apologize for the lack of details, because I actually posted a comprehensive discussion regarding the various forms of help available in Singapore somewhere in TOC before. Kinda lazy to repeat it. =P
1. During the economic fallout of 2007-08, the govt rolled out a nice 20+ billion in programmes. On a per capita basis, this is 50% more than what US provided in terms of welfare + bailout combined. (assuming SG population 1/100 of US population. accurate statistics can be found online. actual number closer to 1/97)
2. During “normal” times, there are more than 30 different welfare/workfare/assistance programmes in Singapore. depending on your employment condition and where you live, it varies between 5-15 different schemes available per person. Some are constituency/racial/age specific.
You can find details of what kind of plans are available for you via a)Community Centre b)Comunity Dev Centre c)CDAC, Mendaki, (and the indian association whose name i forgot, sorry!) depending on which race you come from d) MCYS which supports many NGOs
The most convenient method of search is to go to a Meet-the-People Session. Request specifically for a meeting with the Welfare or ComCare representative. (Don’t expect the MPS writers to know everything. They’re just volunteers and their skills are only in general letter-writing)
I hope this information can help you, and others you know who are facing difficulty. Do pass this information on to anyone else who need help but don’t know where to look. :)
[i]The most convenient method of search is to go to a Meet-the-People Session. Request specifically for a meeting with the Welfare or ComCare representative. (Don’t expect the MPS writers to know everything. They’re just volunteers and their skills are only in general letter-writing)[/i]
ha ha ha that a good 1…
the mps writer will interrogate you liked a ss gestapo officer before you can even see the mp..
do you know how many mp s writer to change a lightbulb in your home if its blown? try usin all the toes as well…
meet the people session? are you jokin or what?
when i kannaed roadbully tatic from a ntuc taxi driver..got injured…bleedin..polis men in short takes no actions..traffic also act blind..ntuc inc challenged me to take them to court (i went to court..bought a sofa instead) i seek the mp for assistance..they replied try legal aids if you are qualified..
@47) XiiAoGeNgEnX on October 15th, 2009 7.52 am
Thk you for informing us where to look for help. Pls further enlighten us on how to get help for following, or are you simply telling a story tale instead:
1) Our TFR is now 1.28 or lower. This issue has not been addressed for past 30+ years. Import of FTs is supposed to remedy this declining birth rate. However this “import” has been going on for past 10+ years, yet the TFR continued to slide even with such foreign influx. Who is currently “helping” on this?
2) A Singpaorean PMET earning $5K was wearing 2 hats in his company. His company replaced him with 2 lower paid persons for total <$4K, one for each hat. Both were FTs. There was no union to help this PMET. After he left, he still got calls from his replacements on how things should be done. Within half year, one of the replacement left. Who can help our PMETs in such situation?
3) 2 PMETs worked in a company – a Singaporean and a FT. There was an opportunity to go overseas for technical exchange and the company initially wanted the S'porean to go. But then it clashed with his ICT. The exchange was organized overseas so the company had no control to reschedule it. Logically, the FT went, while the S'porean lose out on gaining useful knowledge serving to protect this FT/his country. Which of your mentioned "help" organisation can help this?
4) Can you breakdown the 20+b spent on helping Singaporeans? Is this the allocated/announced budget or the actual paid-out amount?
5) Zhang Yuan Yuan used up 1 place in our university & got an offer for $4K before high-tailing back to China. Who can help ensure that 1 local will get into university IINSTEAD of an uncommitted FT if this S'porean is committed to stay in S'pore after graduating and will work for less than 4K? Who is answerable to the resources used up by Zhang?
6) The 30+ programmes have a lot of overlapping chasing the same opportunities or jobs. The "help" most down-and-out Singaporeans get are for jobs that are paid lower than the imported FTs. And these are S'poreans PMETs we are talking. Who can help in this situation?
I really hope you can show us you know what you are talking about…..
@47) XiiAoGeNgEnX on October 15th, 2009 7.52 am
U have missed the point completely. What Singaporeans want is change, not help. Why should we have 30+ programmes, CDC, CC, MYCS, blah, blah… spending 20+b “helping” problems that were created in the first place? I’m sure the 36% foreign population here is contributing more than 20b to the GDP while creating all sorts of issues for us.
Hmmm, well in all honesty, I’m just trying to help in my personal capacity. I find the hostility highly disturbing though. Nevertheless, I could try my best to provide some answers, but feel free to correct me (rationally) if you have access to more specific industry information. :)
1. https://www.babybonus.gov.sg/bbss/html/index.html provides some great information for parents-to-be to plan ahead for their family and to get access to assistance, subsidies, grants etc. TFR isn’t a problem that can be solved easily, unless you’re willing to implement draconian measures to force couples to have more children or face the firing squad. Haha kidding.
2. PMETs have access to programmes from NTUC, and the Jobs Training Scheme allows greater flexibility of professionals considering other industries, and the govt actually pays you a nominal wage while you’re undergoing a training course.
3. well, if your boss feels strongly about this local gaining more exposure overseas, then he’ll be prioritized for the next event. Alternatively, you can approach MPS writers. Request for a letter to MINDEF manpower division, requesting for an alternative ICT session. DO NOT request for a cancellation of ICT session because that’s kinda unreasonable and it wont work.
4. It was announced and has since been implemented since early 2009, at the onset of the economic crisis. Breakdown of this package was announced in the Straits Times.
5. One of the criteria for university rankings measures how “globalized” a university is. So if you have a healthy mix of students from around the world, the university ranking rises, so the local students (that make up the bulk of the student population), enjoy an increase in the value of their degrees.
Contrast this to Taiwan, where they have a 97% university graduate rate, but their degrees don’t count for anything. At the end of the day, the cert is just a means to land a job.
6. Is this a hypothetical situation you’re drawing out of thin air? I don’t see any basis for it except your imagination.
Overall, Straits Times does publish the various programmes and projects and the relevant information on how Singaporeans can apply, which Singaporeans can qualify etc. It’s a pity that people like you can only see the problems, and not the solutions.
49) theforgottongeneration on October 16th, 2009 6.41 am
You are terribly misguided if you feel that societal problems are created by policies. These schemes are created to help out the less fortunate or those facing difficult times in their lives. Singaporeans want sound policies which are both flexible and sympathetic to individual needs.
Unless you can draw a relationship or prove cause and effect, blaming FTs does nothing but show your xenophobia.
Re Edgar 51)
Amartya Sen’s work did shown that social problems are created by policy and thats how he got Nobel Prize.
If FT really does not harm, how come only Singapore are the one to practice it to such excesses.
Are you implying leaders all over the world are idiots?
If FT is a silver bullet to all economis problem, why our government did not won Nobel Prize?
The income gap is has definitely widened, especially between those that PAP need to keep itself in power, and those that it does not need. For example, the SAF and SPF regulars are given a very high pay becos PAP hope that they can rely on the SAF regulars and police to keep itself in power in the event of a freak election. For those that PAP does not need to keep itself in power, such as teachers, healthcare workers, social workers, who contribute much to the well-being of lower income Singaporeans as compared to the SAF regulars, their pay are kept generally much lower. This is despite the fact that Singaporeans serve NS for defence of Singapore.
@51) XiiAoGeNgEnX on October 16th, 2009 11.25 am
I take it that your are just a chair-borne analyst somewhere relying only on the MSM and other official sources for info & details, with little interaction with the ground level. So it is understandable that if your info could be wrong overnight, you would label anyone imaginative. Still I will try:
1) Your link is only for … babies. In 2008, $250m was paid out in Baby Bonus and it was by reported in Straits Times that it was a FAILURE (I recall FAILURE was the word used by ST not me). My original point make it very clear that the TFR has been sliding for over 30 years, meaning whichever authority in charge is a failure for over 3 decades. Your contention that there are various schemes to help couples have babies is just an admission that we are throwing money at a problem hoping it will go away. There are however better ways to reverse the trend, beside the firing squad. Maybe you can look into Canada, France, Britain, etc.. But you may have to shift your butt if you think ST is gonna give you such answers soon.
2) I don’t know if you understand my point. I understand that there is like 200,000 Singaporeans undergoing SPUR, PCP, etc. . . that would know what is meant. To clarify your stand, pls confirm for us the “nominal wage” (in Singapore dollars), that you referred to. Give a range if you not sure, we are Ok with that.
3) You must have extreme faith in our labor triparitie system. Maybe YOUR boss will schedule another person to attend something which, to the company, has already sent someone to, and is now only looking for some payback for the expenses spent. Let me guess–you are in the public sector, right?
4) It seems you are not very practical with the ground. Generally what was announced 10 months ago is not the actual situation on the ground now. Anyway, maybe you can do an exercise to find out if 20b announced means 20b committed. Again, you waiting for ST to tell you such info?
5) Again, either your grasp of English is suspect or my writing is terrible! You mean having a PR that studied here and then high-tailed back to China is considered as a healthy mix, will raise the Uni standing, and locals have added value? I am seriously lost on such reasoning.
Say what you like about Taiwan. Their count-for-nothing graduates had captured nearly every desktop, laptop and nettop motherboard in the world. Compared to our scholars — what have we captured that is uniquely Singapore?
6) Your answer to this point shows you are definitely not a person on the ground — not even close. Do your homework and come back later, kiddo.
“…It’s a pity that people like you can only see the problems, and not the solutions…”
This is really talking like a whimper, Come back when you have some real experience … I will be waiting.
@52) Edgar on October 16th, 2009 11.33 am
Oh my, another voice screaming from the same script. No offense but I really need some intelligent discussion to keep me on this site.
Pls refer to my reply to “XiiAoGeNgEnX” at #54.
To clarify that you have the full picture of the impact of FTs, pls confirm the foreign content in some other countries, any country. Singapore = 36% (2008/09). USA = ?, Australia = ?, UK = ? You choose which country, we then can discuss.
@53) http://vonhayek.blogspot.com/ on October 16th, 2009 12.36 pm
“….If FT is a silver bullet to all economis problem, why our government did not won Nobel Prize? ….”
I have absolutely no knowledge of the selection process for such Nobel Prize, but Singapore was previously snubbed with its submission of:- ‘Pay politicans astronomical wages so that they will not be corrupt’ theory. Somehow the REST of the world (including N.Korea and Myanmar) didn’t buy into that either.
OK, SG scholars, back to the drawing board……
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Weekly Roundup: Week 42
[...] are fed, up with progress! – TOC: Re-evaluating the Singapore story [Thanks lary] – The Temasek Review: A reply to: “Singapore cheaper than Stockholm” – Diary of A [...]
You know why they hike everything after general election.
Because based on the definition of GDP, the prices of goods and services produced within a country, simply by hiking everything, GDP increases.
When GDP increases, their bonus is pledged to GDP also increases.
@51) XiiAoGeNgEnX on October 16th, 2009 11.25 am
@52) Edgar on October 16th, 2009 11.33 am
What’s up guys? U imaginative & xenophobic now? C’mon, contribute some ground-level facts for healthy & open discussion.
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Uncategorized - Jan 15, 2010 10:12 - 126 Comments
It is affordable – Mah Bow Tan
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Uncategorized - Jan 15, 2010 10:12 - 126 Comments
It is affordable – Mah Bow Tan
More In Uncategorized
- Rebutting Law Minister K Shanmugam
- Challenge of communication
- TOC & Talk Politics hold successful Year in Review forum
- “Live” from Post Museum – TOC’s Year End Review
- The Fajar Generation
In addition to income distribution, the other aspect is household debt as a % of household income.