On July 10th, Singapore goes to the polls for its elections held once every 4 to 5 years as mandated in the Constitution.
We are just coming out of this terrible world pandemic called COVID -19 which as at the time of writing 23rd June 2020 has infected over 4 million worldwide and impacted 400,000 deaths. Singapore has over 40,000 cases with the great majority from the Foreign Workers in the dormitories getting it and passing it to their colleagues.
Our survival rate is one of the highest in the world, with 26 deaths directly attributed to COVID and another 9 attributed it to be a 'contributing factor' but not the main cause of death.
We have just opened up the economy, Phase 2, so we can now go for a swim, use the gym. and have meals in many dining establishments. However, each party should not be more than 5 per table.we are no where close to what life was before this pandemic, which I think will change life and social norms irreversibly.
So, in 17 days time, Singapore votes. We have more and credible opposition like never before. 2 to 3 parties really stand out.
My personal desire is to have more checks and balances of the Government, but this should never degenerate into a mockery like what you see in US ; to be fair, the ruling party has done moderately well. The Government has dipped into the reserves and come up with close to S$100 billion to help the economy and assist many people to tide through. These in my opinion are stop gap solutions, not long term solutions.
There are several burning issues ordinary people will find very difficult to continue to accept in the light of what has happened recently :
High salaries of ministers - from the true test of COVID 19, what has our response and recovery to this massive challenge ? We failed badly on the issue of overcrowding of foreign worker dormitories leading to daily infection rates of high hundreds to over 1000 one day alarming the world community for sure. Our million dollar ministers come out with mediocre solutions. Exceptional ? The answer is obvious. "No".
Are they really exceptional and deserving of that salaries ?
Too much dependency on foreign 'talent' at both the top and bottom strata which was making many locals very unhappy before this crisis. Many people were already retrenched in the 2nd half of 2019 and resorted to being Grab car drivers or taxidrivers while the foreign workers merrily continued in their jobs. Its the perception that many foreign white collar workers get an easier ride (perhaps they are more competitive in salaries)while the poor locals suffer with retrenchment, high costs of housing, NS obligations and the costs of starting families while the foreign contingent work hard (no issue there), save, pay their rent, and bring all their money back home when their contract expires. Many go home with a 'king's ransom' when they convert their S$ salaries to their home countries in Malaysia, Philippines, India, Myanmar, Vietnam and even China.
2 countries closer to home Australia and New Zealand have more balanced lifestyles and the blue collar workers are paid very well compared to the white collar workers.However, the jobs go to the born and bred citizens who have no qualms about dirty hands, feet, and laboring in the hot sun. They will be paid $6,000 in salary (yes a big chunk goes to taxes) but then it is the citizen who earns the honest day's work.
Entitlement ? No, we men have gone through army and can put up with all the hard long hours in the sun, sweating and the unconfortableness. Its an excuse that Singaporeans prefer cushy jobs when it comes to survival. Just make it worth our while (like S$ 4,000 starting salary) and see the lines queueing for these jobs.
Just give us a fair deal in the construction sector. Costs will expectedly rise, but we will need to work these into the existing system.
NZ and Australia did far better (by the way) at managing COVID - 19 than our Singapore.
Sad and embarrasing.
Some of my humble layman suggestions we need to look into and implement :
a) Universal basic wage implementation ;
b) Poverty Line
c) Singaporeans working in all sectors of industry with clear markers for results and
most of all
d) Accountability at all levels
If the current administration carries on, it is better to have strong opposition in parliament to ask these questions and have proper debate before deciding, rather than just passing every legislation having gone through a 'think tank' team and decide it is for the greater good.
Question, ask, debate, and rethink before finally doing.
These are hallmarks of an established democracy.
CARPE DIEM.
