Iswaran charged, will return salary and allowance, focus on clearing his name
Former Minister for Transport, S Iswaran appeared in court yesterday (18 Jan 2024). 27 charges were filed against him. On 16 January 2024, Mr Iswaran wrote to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to resign as a Cabinet Minister and as a member of the People’s Action Party (PAP). He also resigned as Member of Parliament […]
Does a single poverty line help you to identify who are the poor who really need help?
The Workers’ Party Jamus Lim renewed his party call for an official poverty line. He called for the establishment of a committee of government representatives, civil society leaders and academic experts to decide what the poverty line should be, and for all government assistance and policies to then be pegged to this threshold. Back in […]
A widened definition of success, a meritocracy where everyone is best possible version of themselves: Lawrence Wong
Success means different things to different people, in different places. Yet somehow, as a society, we tend to converge the definition of success around material possessions such as the size of the paycheck, or the property we own, says DPM Lawrence Wong in Parliament (17 April 2023). DPM Wong suggests that we should shift our […]
There is no escaping the GST hike starting next year. Here’s how you can cope with rising costs.
Goods & Services Tax (GST) will proceed to increase from the current 7% to the proposed 8% from 1 Jan 2023 and subsequently to 9% from 1 Jan 2024. With the rise in GST, the cost of living goes up and workers bear the brunt, especially those from the lower to the middle-income group. Thankfully, […]
PME Taskforce call for stronger support for PMEs who become involuntarily unemployed
It’s been a full year since nine recommendations were made by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)-Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) PME Taskforce (PME TF) to strengthen PMEs’ employment and employability and enable them to compete fairly and more effectively in the labour market. Since the release of the recommendations, NTUC-SNEF has been working closely with the Ministry […]
Low wage workers not in Progressive Wage Model sectors to earn at least $1400 a month
Come 1 September 2022, a total of 221,000 full-time lower-wage workers will benefit from Progressive Wage moves. Adjustment to Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) 159,000 full-time lower-wage workers who are not in the PWM (Progressive Wage Model) sectors will benefit from an adjustment to the Local Qualifying Salary. The LQS is the salary an employer needs […]
A response to ‘who is destroying the affordability of our basic cost of living’
The Independent Singapore (TISG) published an open letter from a netizen that it said was circulating on WhatSapp. This being the weekend and it’s raining as well….. In the open letter, the netizen asked: “Who is destroying the affordability of our basic cost of living?” 1. the hardships faced by the average Singaporeans when everything […]
Demystifying Help Schemes for Lower-wage Workers
Every year, large sums from the Singapore annual Budget are set aside to support social spending in order to increase social mobility and help uplift those from low-income households. Lower wage workers have always been a vulnerable group that the Government has paid attention to. In case you missed this year’s National Day Rally speech, […]
This year’s National Day Rally speech paid special attention to workers. It’s important to understand why.
The National Day Rally is typically seen as the most important political speech of the year – with the Prime Minister charting Singapore’s future direction and announcing policy changes. This year’s speech opened with COVID-19 as the backdrop that has changed the world as we once knew it. While PM Lee spoke about preserving our […]
Netizens are confused and think that LQS is minimum wage
During the recent National Day Rally (NDR) announcement, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that companies MUST pay a Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) of $1400 to ALL its local employees if they wish to hire foreign employees. Many Singaporeans are confused by this announcement and what the LQS is, mistakenly thinking that PAP has finally […]