Motion on Inclusive Growth
Sir, I strongly support the motion. Economic growth is necessary for the development of a country but not everyone benefits from economic growth. Singapore's highly educated and skilled talents are sought after locally and overseas, leading to an inevitable rise in their income. Many low-skilled workers, on the other hand, especially those in low-end manufacturing jobs are at daily risk of losing their jobs to countries of lower cost. Unless they upgrade in time, they will either become permanently redundant or become chronic low-wage workers in industries that cannot be relocated overseas such as the cleaning, food and beverage, laundry and other service industries. Hence, ensuring that these low-skilled workers are not left behind in Singapore's economic growth is critical.
Thankfully, the situation is contained by several pillars on which Government's inclusive growth policy rests. The key pillars, as we all know, are the individual Workfare Schemes on Training and Income Supplement; the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) frameworks to certify skills for Continued Education and Training – all three of which rightly focused on low-skilled and low-wage workers. Government has also introduced the Productivity and Innovation Initiatives, and restriction of foreign labour to encourage local hiring, amongst others.
Sir, I am convinced that the overall strategic directions are clear and accurate. I would like to share some observations and suggestions to enhance the impact of some of these strategies.
The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) and minimum wage. Sir, I fully support the WIS and I am against the idea of minimum wage which has gained traction recently. I fear that instituting minimum wage will backfire on the very same people whose livelihood we are trying to protect. A minimum wage will become an additional cost to business paid by employers who in turn will either:
(i) pass on the cost of business to their customers, causing further increase in the cost of living; or
(ii) become more cautious especially in hiring those who are less skilled, or able, or undergoing training, and not as fully competent yet.
Parties who advocate minimum wage should dwell deeper on the subject and get some inputs from the employers, especially the smaller enterprises struggling to keep prices constant.
The food and beverage industry, for instance, pays their workers differently depending on the setting: fast food or fine restaurants. To forgo Workfare and enforce a minimum wage will hike food prices further, especially for the lower end outlets, leaving the customer and employer to bear the brunt of increased costs.
On a recent visit to a big Laundromat overseas, I found that workers who are not so able were able to secure jobs where they can job-share and each was paid according to their productivity level. An enforced flat minimum wage would have discouraged the company to even consider hiring anyone of them. Hence, Sir, my support for Workfare instead of minimum wage, the cost of which is borne by employers. Workfare, for instance, I would say, just like Mrs Josephine Teo has said, is pro-worker, pro-business, whereas a minimum wage is pro-worker but anti-business.
On the importance of Workfare Income Supplement: the WIS is a very important top-up for workers who are upgrading their skills but need the pay supplement to cope with their daily expenditure. But WIS is even more critical for low-wage workers whose potential to learn is low due either to their age or ability or other reasons. This is a group whose future is dismal unless something is done to help them. Even if they wish to, many of them due to their age or calibre will continue to occupy low-skilled and low-paying jobs such as packing, sorting, cleaning and washing, and so forth. These are not people or jobs that we can wish away or who can benefit as much from the Workfare Training Scheme. Unless there is a transfer of the fruits of prosperity to them through schemes such as Workfare, they are unlikely to survive.
On fine-tuning WIS, for both groups, however, whether they have low or high potential to learn, the ground input is that the quantum of Workfare, and especially the quantum of cash payout are low in the face of inflation and increasing cost of living globally, I seek the Government's consideration to fine-tune the current WIS Scheme:
(i) to conduct a study and measure the pros and cons of increasing the quantum of WIS to an amount that is sufficient for a minimum standard of living; and
(ii) to increase the cash component of the Workfare payout to meet the needs of daily living.
Next, on the jobs for the low-potential, I seek the Government's help to identify jobs that are low-skilled in the public sector and award these jobs or contracts to workers who can work but whose potential or calibre is low.
Sir, I recently visited a Work Centre run by MINDS for the more severely intellectually-disabled people of our country. For years, the few hundred adults were dependent on an ongoing earphone cleaning and packing contract, a contract that is kindly awarded by Singapore Airlines. The contract can be terminated anytime, especially when wireless technology kicks in, and all of them would be banished to stay at home. These adults with severe intellectual disability are not so young or so disabled that they should stay home until they expire but they are unlikely also to be able to benefit from the Workfare Training Scheme due to their ability level.
Sir, we have jobs such as mail sorting, cleaning, washing, sealing, packing that can be performed by such Singaporeans whose potential to learn is low due to certain reasons. I urge the public sector to identify such work and award these jobs to them. Pay them based on productivity, but just like what HDB has done for this special category of citizens, give them bonus points when awarding contracts or jobs. Let them have a chance to be included in the workforce and not simply stay at home till they expire.
Next, Sir, Job-Recreation Programme. I turn now to workers with a higher potential to learn. I am convinced that they can benefit from MOM's Workfare Training Scheme, CET framework and subsidised courses and the NTUC-driven Job Re-creation Programme to transform low-productivity and low-paying jobs.
However, the trophy of Job Re-creation, the one step creates a lot of recreation, appears to be kept so far by the security industry, which saw the rise in the skills set and salaries of many security guards increased by 15%-25%. So far, what is visible is the security industry's achievement. I believe that there are other industries such as environmental cleaning and even nursing home care that remain plagued by what I call the three Ls: long hours, low pay and low status.
Recently, a food centre in my constituency faced a temporary crisis when its Singaporean cleaners walked out of their jobs because of the nature of the work. Simply increasing the cleaners' pay however would mean a hike in food prices at this hawker centre. Sir, the solution to problems faced by some of these industries cannot be solved by the small-time cleaning contractors or the hawkers and need to be studied and facilitated even more by job analysis, design, re-creation and even re-branding experts.
The same can also be said of nursing homes where most jobs are shunned due to the same three Ls: long hours, low pay and low status. The solution is not simple, I admit, and I urge the tripartite partners to continue to eyeball these local industries urgently so that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel for workers and employers alike in these industries.
Next, on Continuing Education and Training for the mild to moderately disabled or those who have some potential to learn. Sir, there are many workers with special needs or milder disabilities who have the potential to learn but are excluded from the opportunities for Continuing Education and Training. The next Enabling Masterplan for the Disabled is due for review this year and I urge the coordinating Ministry, MCYS, to work closely with the other helping hands, and especially with the Manpower Ministry, to play a more active role to offer the same education and training opportunities for the disabled as what the able-bodied workforce is receiving.
I also urge the union to include the disabled workforce in their national plan. There is no doubt that they are part of the definition of the vulnerable workforce that MP Josephine Teo has spoken about. The final jigsaw of inclusive growth has to include the single family also, mentioned by labour MP Josephine Teo. It will be incomplete if this group of vulnerable workers is perpetually and persistently left out by the union.
Next, identification and integrated help for families with chronic low-wage bread-winners. Sir, this is my final suggestion for today and that is for a multi-agency approach to identify the families whose breadwinners are chronic low-wage workers. Many of them, like cleaner Mdm Rabiah, in my ward, are sole breadwinners providing for several school-going children. Rabiah herself is an ex-ComCare recipient who has opted for work. This is low-wage work. People like her family needs to be identified so that there is tighter case management for them. Tighter case management is required so that proper child supervision, career counselling, job training, temporary income top-up can all be packed in an integrated case management portfolio, in an integrated solution to pull folks like Mdm Rabiah and her family out of their poverty spiral. Left on their own, it is unlikely that these families can see beyond their struggle just to get by the day.
Sir, I hope the relevant agencies will consider my suggestions:
(i) to retain Workfare instead of instituting a minimum wage policy;
(ii) to fine-tune the Workfare Income Supplement Scheme;
(iii) to do more for low wage workers whose potential to learn is low and may not be able to leverage on training;
(iv) to repeat even more of the success in the security industry through more Job Re-creation Programmes in the low-productivity industries;
(v) to include the disabled and special-needs workforce in our country's Continuing Education and Training plans and labour plans;
(vi) to identify and help chronic low-wage workers in an integrated type, multi-agency approach.
Sir, Singapore's widening income gap is one of the highest in the world and we are sometimes a victim of our own success. Instead of putting a brake on our economic growth which we need, let us sharpen the current initiatives like Workfare and CET and to include other vulnerable groups like the disabled so that none will be left behind and that everyone has a chance to contribute and benefit from the economic growth.
With that, I strongly support the motion.