Foreigners stole our lunch?
BUT IN THE 1990S, HE SAID, THE INFLUX OF FOREIGN WORKERS WHO WERE WILLING TO WORK LONGER HOURS FOR LESS PAY MADE THE INDUSTRY UNTENABLE. SO HE QUIT.
“There was less work to be had. We could not compete”
Comment: In 2015, employment growth was 700 for locals and 31,600 for foreigners.
Starting over as a food stall assistant, he soon found that getting a position that paid adequately was tough. Jobless at one stage, he resorted to free food handouts.
Eventually, the Community Development Council helped place him in a job that now pays S$1,000 a month – enough, he says, to live on.
He picked up landscaping at the Employment and Employability Institute and now draws S$1,300 a month, working a five-day week as a gardener.
Pay up, HDB rental up even more?
The irony? He says he’s been asking his boss to lower his pay – because he’s afraid he might get a reduced subsidy on his S$50-a-month rental flat.
Comment: His HDB flat rental may increase to $123 – $165 (First-timer) or $205 – $275 (Second-timer).
“Then there is the Workfare supplement, paid by the State to top up the wages of eligible low-income older workers.
The hitch? Those doing informal work like Eddie, who don’t work for a full month, don’t benefit. And manual jobs carry the element of uncertainty, often depending on health, noted Dr Ng: “I may have enough for tomorrow, but I have no way to plan for next year and the next.”
Working part-time not by choice?
Take Madam Lee Yuit Mei, 67, who has osteoporosis. She used to earn S$800-S$1,000 as a full-time cleaner, but after breaking her wrist in a fall in 2010, she switched to working part-time.
She now makes just S$350 a month working three-hour days, four times a week. But with savings squirreled away over the years, she can meet her living expenses, she says.”
Comment: according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Yearbook of Manpower Statistics 2016 –there were 47,000 residents earning less than $500.