- Joined
- Jan 18, 2013
- Messages
- 2,096
- Points
- 48
SDP: Government's measures fail to address SG's long-term needs
While the 2013 Budget attempts to address systemic problems that ail the nation, it continues to fall short, as with past Budgets, of addressing what Singapore really needs.
The SDP welcomes Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's acknowledgment of the income disparity in Singapore and his effort to tackle the problem through the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS). We note, however, that the Scheme is similar to the Workfare Income Scheme (WIS) in that it pays out to employers to raise wages of workers.
The WIS has shown not to be helpful in achieving its objectives as income inequality in Singapore continues to widen despite it having been in effect since 2007. The Gini coefficient has risen in the last few years and continued to worsen in 2012 (from 0.473 in 2011 to 0.478 in 2012).
Without addressing the root cause of the income gap in Singapore, which is the continued downward pressure on wages brought about by the importation of lower-waged foreign labour, the WCS will not be an effective remedy. Such a piecemeal effort is inadequate in addressing a deep-seated problem which can only be addressed by the introduction of a minimum wage law which the Government continues to resist.
It is also instructive that WCS will be available for three years, covering the period till the next general elections. This raises the suspicion that the initiative is aimed at shoring up the PAP's political support.
The SDP also welcomes the Finance Minister's attempt to control the inflow of migrant workers by raising the foreign workers levy for 2014 and 2015. This is consistent with the previous Budget.
However, the fact the Government intends to continue to increase the intake of foreign workers by an average of 100,000 per year until 6 million in 2020 as announced in its recently published White Paper, the increase in the levy serves little purpose. Against such a backdrop, raising the levy only increases the cost of doing business without affecting our dependence on foreign workers.
If the Government is sincere about narrowing the income gap, it should rethink its policy of importing more foreign workers and introduce minimum wage.
Finally, it is heartening to note that the Budget will increase funding of Eldercare, a programme which the SDP supports.
The topping up of Medifund from $1 billion to $4 billion, however, remains a case of throwing good money after bad. The 3M-system of Medisave, Medishield and Medifund is unwieldy and opaque. It has shown to be inadequate to take care of the healthcare needs of the nation. Tweaking the amount for Medifund does not make our healthcare system affordable.
Instead, the 3Ms should be replaced by a single-payer system with the Government raising its healthcare expenditure from the current 30 percent to the international norm of about 70 percent.
The SDP will address the 2013 Budget's shortcomings in our Shadow Budget and propose an alternative and more efficient way of prioritizing our nation's expenditure estimates.
Vincent Wijeysingha
Treasurer
Singapore Democratic Party
P.S. A gentle reminder to my WP brothers here who do not like the SDP, please do not zap me with red points. As far as I know, I am a very polite person, I do not yell and I am not rude. There is no reason to zap me just because I do not worship the WP like you. Lets be friends and lets learn to get along together agreeably on this tiny red dot and in Sam's forum, regardless of the party we support. Thanks
While the 2013 Budget attempts to address systemic problems that ail the nation, it continues to fall short, as with past Budgets, of addressing what Singapore really needs.
The SDP welcomes Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's acknowledgment of the income disparity in Singapore and his effort to tackle the problem through the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS). We note, however, that the Scheme is similar to the Workfare Income Scheme (WIS) in that it pays out to employers to raise wages of workers.
The WIS has shown not to be helpful in achieving its objectives as income inequality in Singapore continues to widen despite it having been in effect since 2007. The Gini coefficient has risen in the last few years and continued to worsen in 2012 (from 0.473 in 2011 to 0.478 in 2012).
Without addressing the root cause of the income gap in Singapore, which is the continued downward pressure on wages brought about by the importation of lower-waged foreign labour, the WCS will not be an effective remedy. Such a piecemeal effort is inadequate in addressing a deep-seated problem which can only be addressed by the introduction of a minimum wage law which the Government continues to resist.
It is also instructive that WCS will be available for three years, covering the period till the next general elections. This raises the suspicion that the initiative is aimed at shoring up the PAP's political support.
The SDP also welcomes the Finance Minister's attempt to control the inflow of migrant workers by raising the foreign workers levy for 2014 and 2015. This is consistent with the previous Budget.
However, the fact the Government intends to continue to increase the intake of foreign workers by an average of 100,000 per year until 6 million in 2020 as announced in its recently published White Paper, the increase in the levy serves little purpose. Against such a backdrop, raising the levy only increases the cost of doing business without affecting our dependence on foreign workers.
If the Government is sincere about narrowing the income gap, it should rethink its policy of importing more foreign workers and introduce minimum wage.
Finally, it is heartening to note that the Budget will increase funding of Eldercare, a programme which the SDP supports.
The topping up of Medifund from $1 billion to $4 billion, however, remains a case of throwing good money after bad. The 3M-system of Medisave, Medishield and Medifund is unwieldy and opaque. It has shown to be inadequate to take care of the healthcare needs of the nation. Tweaking the amount for Medifund does not make our healthcare system affordable.
Instead, the 3Ms should be replaced by a single-payer system with the Government raising its healthcare expenditure from the current 30 percent to the international norm of about 70 percent.
The SDP will address the 2013 Budget's shortcomings in our Shadow Budget and propose an alternative and more efficient way of prioritizing our nation's expenditure estimates.
Vincent Wijeysingha
Treasurer
Singapore Democratic Party
P.S. A gentle reminder to my WP brothers here who do not like the SDP, please do not zap me with red points. As far as I know, I am a very polite person, I do not yell and I am not rude. There is no reason to zap me just because I do not worship the WP like you. Lets be friends and lets learn to get along together agreeably on this tiny red dot and in Sam's forum, regardless of the party we support. Thanks
Last edited:
