65 per cent believe ‘wage shock therapy’ will work: Yahoo! poll
65 per cent of those who took part in an online Yahoo! poll said they believe the recent “wage shock” plan proposed by Lim Chong Yah would work.
The professor, an economist and former chairman of the National Wage Council, had suggested raising the monthly salaries of workers who earn S$1,500 or less by 50 per cent over three years. At the same time, the wages of those who earn over S$15,000 a month would be freezed for the same period.
A total of 4283 netizens took part in the online poll, which ran for four days since Monday.
- 65% chose the option that “it is the right move to tackle Singapore’s growing income gap”
- 19% said the proposal requires further thought
- 16% said they feared it would lead to higher costs.
THOSE FOR
Yahoo! user Hermitmount commented that the move will help the lower income families cope with the rising cost of living in Singapore.
“Totally agreed with Professor Lim. True Singaporean he is. Raising wages for Singaporeans who are in the low-income would help cushion the high standard of livings as many Singaporeans are already had hard times to meet their end needs.”
The move will also encourage more companies to up their productivity, reckoned another Yahoo! user, Lydia.
“At the moment, companies are too reliant and addicted to foreign cheap labour. Shock therapy will force companies to increase productivity and invest in training and technology.”
THOSE AGAINST
While a majority of readers were in favour of the “wage shock” plan, some remained wary of the consequences.
An Anonymous reader said: “I'm all for wage increase for the low income group but this will also lead to more companies getting cheap foreign labour or worse, they might take their business elsewhere. So this suggestion need to given more thoughts and frankly I think the better solution would be for the government to give more rebates and tax relief for the low income group instead of a wage increase.”
Another reader, E, said: “I am no economist, however, common sense tell me that there are more than one parameters in this aspect. Closing gaps by forcing single parameters would not resolve the issue but create more issue.
The issue has sparked debate with National Trades Union Congress secretary-general Lim Swee Say labelling the proposal a “very risky” move because it would push up wages of low-wage workers but a corresponding increase in skill, productivity or employability may not follow suit.
Managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also criticised Lim’s proposal, saying it could lead to the mass closure of SMEs as the companies may not be able to bear the higher cost of the sudden wage increments.
On Tuesday, Professor Lim acknowledged his proposal was a radical one but he explained, “Our lowly paid workers have been underpaid by much more than 100 per cent of their pay when compared with their counterparts in countries with comparable national affluence like Hong Kong, Japan or Australia.”
Well-known blogger Alex Au wrote also that the “shock” therapy was needed because “unless it becomes really necessary, businesses and employers are not going to put their minds seriously enough into productivity improvements to yield the benefits the government hopes for.”
