Han Fook Kwang Awakens?

ST MANAGING EDITOR'S DAMNING ASSESSMENT OF PM LEE'S 10YRS OF LEADERSHIP


Han Fook Kwang's awakening and his damning assessment of PM Lee's ten years of leadership ...

The managing editor of The Straits Times must be getting very hot under the collar for some reasons. For those who are sharp enough, recent comments from some quarters, including ministers like Khaw Boon Wan, and even mentor ministers like former PM Goh Chok Tong, have given us some hints to what these individuals are thinking about the leadership of PM Lee.

(Readers may notice that i am not using the usual names i reserve for ST and the PM. This is to reciprocate in kind, that when you write in fairness, we will react in fairness).

Mr Han provided some very telling data of salary increments from 1975 to now. For the large part of our economic growth, Singaporean workers' salaries had doubled in every decade, up till 2000. He quickly added that, "...but from 2000 to 2010, median salaries moved much more slowly, increasing by only 2.5% a year. If inflation was taken into account, the increase amounted to only 1.3% a year." He wanted to know what happened?

Well, if a top press man like him, with full support from the government, does not know what had happened, who would? Fortunately for him, Blogs and Facebook were able to help him out with his question. Realizing the dire situation we are in, he had no choice but to finally listen to what Netizens have been saying all this while.

First point is this. The sudden stagnation of median salary started after PM Lee took over from ESM Goh. It came at a time just after the Financial Crisis of 2008. Many economies were rebuilding themselves, Singapore included - after we received the shocking revelation of the losses incurred by Temasek Holdings and our Group of Investment Companies. It didn't help that ESM Goh's premiership had seen Singapore making huge economic strides toward First World stature. PM Lee had his work cut out for him, to better the performance of ESM Goh.

The floodgates to welcome the so-called foreign talent were opened. The target was the cheaper global worker. GDP became the tool of measurement to determine the performance of the government. Inevitably, the Singaporean workers' wages became the compromising item. The big economic picture superseded the smaller picture of wage increase. We remember how were constantly bombarded by Mr Han's papers, that we needed to bring our expectations down to help with the economic recovery.

Today, it must surely surprise many to hear him ask "what happened". Singaporeans online, have been calling on him and his papers to be less parroty, all in vain. How much different things would be today if Mr Han's papers had asked ten years ago, "What is going to happen". Alas, as with the behavior of dogs, they obey, they never question.

Yet today, he wants to know "what accounted for the DRAMATIC slowdown in median wage increases despite a growing economy?". Isn't the answer not yet clear to you Mr Han? There is only one word to that question of yours. Please spell that word with me - L.I.E.S. Thank you.

Lies, lies and more lies are what we have been fed with. And your papers, Mr Han, have been supporting the lies of these monstrous liars so much so that you yourself are in too deep into the forest of lies. Fortunately for you, there is salvation. Salvation comes to you from the bright colorful lights of Cyberspace.

The few points you mentioned happened to be stale news. Firstly, productivity, even with all the campaigns and wasteful spendings, came to nought; not because Singaporeans were not productive at work, but because there was a governmental shift in national vision, from manufacturing to financial. This effectively killed off two generations of our population. The older generation, being low skilled and aging, are now very productive cardboard and tin cans collectors. The second generation is preparing to follow suit if all the measures for upgrading the self fail.

PM Lee's governmental agenda have no solutions for this group of Singaporeans. In fact, PM Lee's legacy is heading towards one fraught with low productivity, death of local talents (snapped up as premier workers globally), and failed schemes and incentives. So you know, Mr Han, that when things are not working out, a new thought process must be opened with a new model in mind. Glad you brought up that point. However, I can sense that you stopped short of asking whether PM Lee is the right person for new ideas and the new model. In fact, i can help you go a little further by suggesting that you also ask yourself whether the PAP is that Party with new ideas and a new economic model for Singapore.

Finally, we can understand and we share your frustrations for the small wage increase these past ten years. There is no need to show your frustration, lest you be termed in the same vein as 'xenophobic'. But between you and me, i just love how you ended your column, telling the PM, "It's still the economy, stupid".

Thank you for speaking our minds, at last.

The Alternative View

*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...40705941.85354.358759327518739&type=1&theater

The king is not dead, but the fight has began.
Who is Han's master?

Well they brought in all these FTs so these FTs r all our bosses. They know fuck about NS and keep to themselves in their enclaves. Our PMETs r now taxi drivers, insurance agents and so on. After all this indignity, they still want us to support SAF and defend this cuntry where we r now 2nd class citizens!

Below is the full article (for those interested in reading it):

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When wages fail to grow along with economy
Stagnating incomes need to be tackled in earnest

By Han Fook Kwang, Managing Editor, The Sunday Times, page 35

If wage increases here can be likened to a speeding car, Singaporeans were driving Ferraris all the way from independence to the late 1990s.

For almost 40 years, incomes went up every year, and in large dollops.

Then, for reasons that are not yet clear, the brakes were applied and the racing car slowed down considerably.

In every decade from the 1970s to 2000, the median monthly income of Singapore workers more than doubled every 10 years.

(For those interested in the details, these are the median income numbers: 1975: $286, 1980: $398, 1990: $1,000, 2001: $2,100, 2010: $2,710)

That's an annual increase of at least 7per cent a year and, in some decades, 9 per cent.

But from 2000 to 2010, median salaries moved much more slowly, increasing by only 2.5 per cent a year. If inflation was taken into account, the increase amounted to only 1.3 per cent a year.

What happened?

It wasn't because the economy stopped growing.

On the contrary, the gross domestic product per capita, which is the usual way of measuring the economy, grew by more than 5 per cent a year from 2001 to 2010, a highly respectable increase. This was the same growth as in the decade before, from 1991 to 2000.

So, while Singapore's economic growth has been consistently good over the last 20 years, the story on the income front is very different, and has changed dramatically over the last 10.

It is no wonder Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin was reported in the media saying that he wasn't happy with how incomes had not moved in recent years.

In fact, the number he revealed was a shocking one: The starting salaries of fresh graduates from the local universities had remained unchanged for the last five years, and were lower than those in 2007, taking inflation into account.

More sobering news was to follow.

According to a report by the ministry released last week, wages grew by less than the inflation rate last year, meaning in real terms, they were below 2011 levels.

There was also the revelation by the National Trades Union Congress that many companies in the non-unionised sector did not implement the National Wages Council's guideline last year of a $50 increment for low-wage workers.

This newspaper found only four of the 12 firms it checked had complied.

This growing disconnect between salaries and economic growth is worrying because Singaporeans have long been led to believe that living standards can only improve if there is growth.

But what if growth didn't result in growing incomes for the large majority? Note that all the numbers quoted above are for median wages which affect at least half of all workers here.

It's a completely separate problem from that of low-wage workers at the bottom 20 per cent whose plight has been widely discussed and for whom there are special schemes such as Workfare.

But when median incomes stagnate, it means at least half of the working population is affected.

To be fair, this problem isn't unique to Singapore, and has hit many other developed economies even more severely.

Real median wages, for example, in the United States haven't moved in more than a decade.

In Taiwan and South Korea, the slowdown has been much worse than in Singapore.

Clearly, more needs to be done to understand why this has happened and to explain the issues to the public.

What accounted for the dramatic slowdown in median wage increases despite a growing economy?

Is this an inevitable outcome of a maturing economy, one which Singaporeans will have to get used to?

If productivity is the answer, as has been repeatedly stressed by the Government, does Singapore need to rethink its approach to the issue?

Precious few gains have been made so far in productivity over the last few years despite so much money being spent on so many schemes and incentives.

Does Singapore need a new growth model which will better ensure rising incomes for the majority?

These are important questions that need to be publicly discussed and addressed.

In the meantime, there are several implications when wage levels stagnate.

First, the fight against inflation will become even more critical.

The worst situation to be in is one with stagnating incomes and increasing price levels, a double whammy which hit Singaporeans the last few years when inflation rose to very high levels.

Second, this new reality will have implications for the country's foreign worker policy.

Mr Tan hinted at this when he spoke about tightening the criteria for Employment Pass holders who comprise mainly skilled foreigners who might compete with local graduates.

Whatever the changes, Singapore needs a more sophisticated and targeted immigration policy to take into account its growing pool of university graduates who have high expectations of what constitutes a good life.

Expect the backlash against foreign workers to intensify if this problem isn't addressed adequately.

The final implication of stagnating incomes is political, and perhaps the most worrying for the ruling party.

The secret of the People's Action Party's longevity has been its ability to deliver ever higher living standards to the people.

However unpopular its policies might have been, it was able to garner support as long as, at every election after five years, it was able to show how much life had improved for the majority of the people.

And it more than delivered in the years when wages went up by 7 per cent to 9 per cent a year, which is an increase of at least 40 per cent after every election cycle of five years.

But when real wages stagnate, how will it be able to repeat this performance?

Indeed this may explain its poorer than usual showing at the 2011 General Election and the two subsequent by-elections.

Not enough people felt that their lives had got better, and the income data shows this.

The one bright spark in Singapore has been the ability to create jobs, with unemployment almost non-existent. Stagnating income growth is infinitely better than jobless growth, which has been the scourge of many countries in the West.

Despite all the talk about the new political landscape and the desire for a greater diversity of views, what most people want are good jobs and incomes.

Nothing has changed in this regard.

What has altered is the new economic reality that Singapore faces with stagnating median incomes.

Any government that wants to retain popular support will have to tackle this problem in earnest.

It's still the economy, stupid.

The first person that raised this in parliament where he stated that income was not keeoing up with GDP was NMP Viswa Sadasivan, unfortunately it was a minor point while the pledge was a major point. And old man came in like a raging bull.

Looks like people Han must have realised the damage to his own family and relatives to wake up.

Imagine we pay these arseholes much more and they delivered a result that is much worse than the first and second batch of ministers.

scroobal said:

The first person that raised this in parliament where he stated that income was not keeoing up with GDP was NMP Viswa Sadasivan, unfortunately it was a minor point while the pledge was a major point. And old man came in like a raging bull.

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My daughter who is a Sinophile, told me there is a Chinese saying that goes something like this: A horse's stamina becomes apparent when it has to go on long journeys; a man's worth becomes apparent with time.

Bros, don't be fooled by this LEEgime's sicko-fan (read: sycophant).

Han must have obtained prior clearance from his political masters before his article is printed in the state-controlled media.

PrinceCharming said:

... It's still the economy, stupid.

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he called who stoopig, huh? ...

Agree, both Cheong and him were chosen to do a certain job. Peter Lim was different and as he refused to comply he had to go.

PrinceCharming said:

Bros, don't be fooled by this LEEgime's sicko-fan (read: sycophant).

Han must have obtained prior clearance from his political masters before his article is printed in the state-controlled media.

Click to expand...

I am always skeptical to anything printed on the mainstream media, when they appear to 'blast PAP'. Seems like PAP just want to show that they 'allow democracy'.

PrinceCharming said:

If productivity is the answer, as has been repeatedly stressed by the Government, does Singapore need to rethink its approach to the issue?

Precious few gains have been made so far in productivity over the last few years despite so much money being spent on so many schemes and incentives.

Click to expand...

Productivity comes after real investment and training, not by repeating corny lines and singing cheap jingles

Nobody is so as well self-trained as the likes of Han and Cheong in praising the Emperor's new clothes. Is Han blur or plain dishonest? Or dishonest douche acting blur?

I refer to LeongSzeHian's (LSH) post in TOC Ministers’ pay increased 45 times? at http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/06/ministers-pay-increased-45-times/ .

LSH calculated that from 1973, ministers salary increased by 45 times.

Division-IV civil servants, their salary range is $1,470 which is 10 times since 1975.

The figures cited by Han Fook Kwang (HFK), median salary of Singaporeans in 1975 = $286 & 2010 = $2710.
This is approx 10 times too.