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Raising the standard of living of the poor is a complicated matter and, although there has been significant progress in the last decade, the government will go further, Chief Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Parliament yesterday.
Standing up to speak amid a heated debate on Workers’ Party (WP) MP Jamus Lim’s inaugural speech, Mr. Tharman said that the government truly believes in the importance of raising the wages of the lowest paid workers in Singapore.
He said: “How do we do it without losing the ability of employees to take pride in having a job and earning a salary?
“We do it through the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which needs to be expanded. We do it through Workfare. We do it through a number of other grants … It is not a job that has been done forever. We have to do more. “
In his speech, Associate Professor Lim (Sengkang GRC) called for a greater injection of compassion and thoughtfulness in policy making, and said that the government privileges efficiency at the expense of fairness.
However, Tharman said no one should assume they have a monopoly on compassion.
“I have heard speeches in recent days … some of my colleagues from the PAP (Popular Action Party) really impressed me, not only because of the very forceful proposals they were making, which often went beyond what is the Government . doing, but the strength of his conviction. “
Tharman also cautioned against clowning arguments such as saying the government is only interested in efficiency and not fairness.
“That is frankly laughable,” said the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies.
He tried to downplay the differences between the universal minimum wage and PWM, calling the latter “more minimum wage,” a phrase also used by Labor Minister Josephine Teo on Tuesday. She said that PWM’s sectoral approach allowed the government to set a minimum notch that is neither too low nor too high.
Professor Lim, in his speech, called for the implementation of a minimum wage, arguing that it would have a limited impact on unemployment. This provoked a strong reprimand from several PAP deputies.
The Minister of State for Human Resources and Education, Gan Siow Huang, agreed that policy makers should exercise and show compassion.
But he said a minimum wage could cause more distress.
“In today’s times, when companies are being challenged and we are in a recession period, there is a very real risk that if we were to introduce the minimum wage … in all sectors, I think many of our lower paid workers they could lose their jobs. “
The Minister of State for Human Resources and Defense, Zaqy Mohamad, said that it takes time to expand PWM to more sectors, as the union, the government and the employers have to reach a position that is bearable.
In response, Professor Lim argued that Singapore should think about implementing policies like the minimum wage in times of crisis because it “concentrates the mind.”
“There is no doubt that at this very moment, such a policy may not be ideal. But let’s come together and agree that this is a principle that we want to implement. So when we put these plans in place after the storm has passed , we can easily make them come true. “
Professor Lim said that over-engineered systems run the risk of being fooled, arguing in his speech that PWM’s skill enhancement incentives were loopholes for employers to retain workers with the lowest wages.
WP deputy Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) asked Mr. Zaqy if there was room for policy improvements for low-wage workers not covered by PWM. He also said that a considerable body of academic research suggests that the minimum wage is not a danger to jobs, but sets the minimum wage too high.
Professor Lim said he was not suggesting that he, his party, or any individual had a monopoly on compassion. “That was explicitly why I cited cases where I felt the existing politics showed a lot of compassion. I even cited other non-party members who have also spoken about compassion.
“In fact, I think, as Minister Tharman does, that there is not that much gap between the thinking of the two (on the need for compassion”).
FOR MORE, READ Racial consciousness must not be erased: Ministers and THE TIMES OF THE STRAIT
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