5 Minutes With… Leong Sze Hian on wages
July 1, 2008
TOC speaks to Leong Sze Hian and asks him for his views with regards to this report on June 30 by Channel NewsAsia, “Total wages in Singapore rise by 7-year high of 5.9% in 2007”.
CNA: Despite the fact that Singapore’s economy grew by a lower 7.7 per cent in 2007 compared to 8.2 per cent in 2006, wages grew strongly last year.
TOC: What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you read this?
Sze Hian: The question that struck me was, what was the median wage growth in 2007? Inflation for the lower-income has always been higher than average inflation. So, if inflation for the lower-income was say 1.6 per cent or more for the last 10 years (1997 to 2007), 5 of the 8 categories of workers’ median monthly gross wage (listed in the Straits Times report “Wages rose but not for those at the bottom”, July 1, 2008), may have had no real increase in wages.
Only 3 out of the 8 categories - Sales & Service Workers, Plant & Machine Operators, and Managers, had an increase of 4, 2.4 and 1.7 per cent annualised wage change, respectively. Read more
Transparency - more or less?
June 9, 2008
Foreign reserves: More transparency may not be good?
I refer to the article “SWFs to reveal investment size and formation - However, their strategies will not be disclosed: IMF” (BT, May 13).
It states that “Sovereign wealth funds may agree to reveal the size and composition of their investments though not their strategies as part of a voluntary code being developed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”.
In this connection, I also refer to media reports about the Prime Minister’s remarks that GIC will not be as open as its sister fund, Temasek, in disclosing details about its portfolio, despite pressure from Western lawmakers, and the Minister Mentor’s recent remarks that there are good reasons for GIC not to be too transparent. Read more
Medishield - Why burden the elderly further?
May 26, 2008
Uniquely Singapore
Leong Sze Hian
In the Channel NewsAsia report, “MediShield premiums to go up from December 1”, and the Ministry of Health’s press release on 27 April, the government is increasing MediShield premiums from 1 December.
The hike will be by as much as $480 a year for older Singaporeans.
Whilst the deductible stays the same for those under age 80, at $1,500 for Class B2 and $1,000 for Class C, it will be raised to S$3,000 for Class B2 and S$2,000 for Class C for those aged 80 to 85. This is an increase of 100 per cent for those 80 to 85 years old. Read more
The Unions, the Press and the People
May 14, 2008
Leong Sze Hian & Choo Zheng Xi
Let the people eat…detergent?
Does the media’s reporting of detergent prices reveal a deeper conflict of interest that may harm the country?
Once in awhile pearls of wisdom are found in The New Paper. Larry Havekamp a.k.a. Dr Money, in his financial column in The New Paper, likened statistics to bikinis: what they reveal is suggestive, what they conceal is vital (New Paper, May 5).
We refer to the article in the Straits Times headlined “Rice and cooking oil lead price rise: New Case survey of prices across retailers points out cheaper options for buyers” (Straits Times, May 3).
CASE’s relationship with NTUC
May 11, 2008
Uniquely Singapore
The Unions, the Press, and the People - Part II
Leong Sze Hian
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) founded the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in 1971, and it remains an institution member today. (938 Live) (CASE’s letter to Business Times)
According to NTUC’s web site:
The NTUC Family includes 9 co-operatives, and 6 affiliated organizations - the Singapore Labour Foundation, NTUC Club, NTUC Link, the Ong Teng Cheong Institute of Labour Studies, NTUC LearningHub, and the Consumers’ Association of Singapore, and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).
NTUC is the parent body of CASE.
Taking the easy way out?
May 7, 2008
Leong Sze Hian & Andrew Loh
All 14 town councils run by the People’s Action Party (PAP) will not be increasing their Service and Conservancy (S&C) charges this year.
- Channel NewsAsia, “PAP town councils to freeze S&C charges this year” (February 28, 2008)
Barely two and a half months later, on May 5 2008, this is what ‘officials’ at the PAP-run Aljunied Town Council (TC) said:
Officials also said they will consider raising the conservancy charges for the dirtiest precincts to cover the extra work that goes into maintaining them …
- “Aljunied trash index aims to wipe out litterbugs.” (Straits Times, May 5, 2008)
NTUC’s “gift” - helping the poor or blatant exploitation?
April 11, 2008
Leong Sze Hian and Andrew Loh
The National Trades Union Congress just announced a $4 million worth of assistance for 80,000 low-wage workers under the new discount vouchers scheme.
According to the Straits Times report, “NTUC’s $4m gift to less well-off workers”, the ST says:
“In all, about 80,000 lower-income union members can apply for these vouchers from NTUC.”
It goes on:
“Each voucher gets them a 5 per cent discount for every $10 spent at six NTUC cooperatives, including its childcare centres and pharmacies.”
Now, before we all start cheering the ostentatious generosity of the NTUC, read the report closely. You will notice that :
Uniquely Singapore
April 7, 2008
Uniquely Singapore
Public Accountability
In all the Parliamentary Debates, Singaporeans have never been told what the amount of our reserves is, by way of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) and Temasek’s assets.
In the ChannelNewsAsia report,
“Young NTUC members ask wide range of questions at forum” (15 March 2008), it states that :
“The audience also got the answer to perhaps one of the biggest money question of them all.
Public accountability
April 7, 2008
Uniquely Singapore
In all the Parliamentary Debates, Singaporeans have never been told what the amount of our reserves is, by way of the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) and Temasek’s assets.
In the ChannelNewsAsia report,
“Young NTUC members ask wide range of questions at forum” (15 March 2008), it states that :
“The audience also got the answer to perhaps one of the biggest money question of them all.
Uniquely Singapore
March 31, 2008
Uniquely Singapore
Medishield – one of the most profitable in the world
I refer to the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament on the Ministry of Health (MOH).
In 2006, as a result of requiring all private insurers’ CPF Shield plans to incorporate MediShield, the number of MediShield policyholders grew from 1.26 million to 2.75 million in 1 year. Its loss ratio was only 53 per cent ($67 million paid out over $126 million premium collected in the first 10 months of 2006).
In this connection, MediShield’s loss and expense ratio improved to 40 per cent ($119 million claims and expenses over $297 million collection), according to CPF Board’s 2006 annual report. (CPF)
