Old blog posting I did which helps explain the two Singapore's the PAP has created.
http://singstatistician.blogspot.com/2011/06/different-lives-of-expats-and.html
The different lives of Expats and Singaporean Workers
If you talk to highly qualified foreigners when you are overseas, you often have the impression that Singapore is one of the happiest places in the world. Given the chance, many of these foreigners would want to come to Singapore to work as Expats. HSBC conducts an annual Expat Explorer survey. Into its third wave, the survey shows just how attractive Singapore is.
http://www.offshore.hsbc.com/1/2/international/expat/expat-survey/expat-economics-report-2010
A summary of the rankings from the table for Singapore is:
Overall: 4
Wealth Hotspot: 3
Income: 1
Disposable Income: 7
Luxuries: 13
If you are a Singaporean worker however, the numbers tell a completely different story. Lumese has just done a survey which showed that among 14 countries polled, Singaporean workers are the most unhappy.
http://jobs.st701.com/career-resour...1402&title=S'pore-workers-'world's-unhappiest'
A summary of the findings from the Lumese survey are given below. The scores are all significantly worse than the global norms computed by Lumese.
17% of the respondents see themselves staying with their current employer until retirement.
19% of the respondents look forward to going to work everyday.
12% feel that their workplaces are positive and supportive
This gap in perception between Expats and Singaporean Workers highlights the two Singapores which have emerged as a result of PAP policies over the past 20 years.
The Expats in HSBC’s survey are part of the elite who command top salaries in Singapore. They are NOT your Chinese or Indian PMETs trying to sneak into Singapore with $1,500 “under-the-table” employment packages. Their high rating of Singapore shows that if you are part of this elite in Singapore, then life is good. Think gourmet meals, luxury 9/10/11 condos, Kate Spade bags, fancy cars and all the pretty things that money can buy.
The respondents for Lumese’s survey on the other hand are your average Singaporean workers. They have to face constant competition to be “cheaper, better and faster”. For these ordinary Singaporeans, life in Singapore is a struggle with no end in sight. Think $3.50 hawker centre lunches, HDB pigeonholes, no name bags, overcrowded bus/MRT and all the things you wish you had the money to buy.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said:
Having any job is better than having no job at all. Never mind your Gini coefficient. If you don't have a job, you get zero against those with jobs.
The PAP's thinking therefore is that as long as you have a job, you should be grateful to them. You should kwai kwai shut up and not complain that the pay sucks and the work is horrible. When there is an election, you should show your appreciation by voting for them.
Recently Minister Lui Teck Yew had to go live among ordinary Singaporeans by taking an MRT ride during peak hour. As you can see from his face, he did not seem very happy. He looks as if he is standing near the doors, a place seasoned MRT commuters know to avoid if you do not want to get pushed and shoved.
For me, I find these attempts by our PAP Ministers to "pretend" to be normal Singaporeans to be hypocritical and insulting. Everyone knows that it is "for show" only. For Minister Lui, taking the MRT ride is like going on an excursion to visit say the beggars in Bangkok to see how life is like. Once the excursion is over, he goes back to his life of privilege and luxury.
The life of Expats in Singapore is so good that none of them want to go home. The Straits Times recently did a somewhat insensitive article of how the children of expats cannot find jobs in their own countries. They therefore leverage on their parents networks and connections to get jobs in Singapore.
The work opportunities and cultural diversity here are some reasons why children of expats such as Mr Hughes and Ms McAdam have returned and found jobs here. Mr Hughes is now the duty manager and music director at the Prince of Wales bar, a live music haunt in Little India, while Ms McAdam is a business analyst with Accenture here.
http://forums.delphiforums.com/3in1kopitiam/messages?msg=52197.1
To me, it seems to be a serious policy failure on the part of the PAP that they make the lives of Expats so good while at the same time make the lives of Singaporean workers so hard.
