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Old 14-05-2017, 04:02 PM   #21
LauLanChu
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I think we are not talking about CEO or senior management level, those middle management and lower management are mostly held by locals in corporate. Some locals are even holding upper management level. They are being paid pretty well. Having said that you don't get to that level over night. You got to work hard through rank and file promotion to that level, start from fresh. A lot of locals rather do something else than going through this ladder

As for std of living too high in Sg, agree but Sg is a developed country and we are here as such today, strong currency. Unless Sg make a drastic U turn becoming a developing just like some of our neighbors and the std of living will drop to suit us, if not everyone got to follow the trend, if not will drop behind.
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Old 15-05-2017, 01:31 AM   #22
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Standard.of living and Cost of.living are different issues altogether.

Standard of living is what I created for myself. It's a choice I made. Cost of livig is what I need for my basic needs.

Cost of living. A simple meal at the rice stall in haeker center that fills the tummy, eg rice with 2 veg and 1 meat plus a drink at $5. 3 meals at the hawker center

Standard of living. Rice must be higher grade
2 veg, 1 meat that's cook to order. Including a drink, maybe $30-40. 3 meals at the restaurant.

Is the standard of living too high in SG? To an extend, yes. We are living a lifestyle of choice. But we can alter our choice. Beer at the coffee shop cost about $7.50 a large bottle while beer in pub may cost $12/pint.

Cost of living. I still believe ours is among the lowest in the world. How many percentage of salary is spent on 3 meals? We can get by with $10-15 a day or $300-450 a month. If average salary is $3,000, an average person spends about 10-15%. In comparison to say Malaysia, probably the same 3 meals cost RM 20 a day or RM 600 a month. That is 20%.

Last edited by globalcookie; 15-05-2017 at 01:38 AM.
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Old 15-05-2017, 09:06 AM   #23
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Not really if we factor in all the costs.

The costs are +++++, especially higher if the family has only 1 breadwinner.
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Old 15-05-2017, 10:52 AM   #24
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There, Cost... cost of living. Not Standard of living.

Its like, years ago, Dr lily Neo asked for higher public assistant payout to help mitigate higher cost of living but that wonderful minister, Dr Balakrisnan talked about Standard of living. Living in ivory tower

Last edited by globalcookie; 15-05-2017 at 10:54 AM.
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Old 15-05-2017, 09:24 PM   #25
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He arh, no eyes see
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Old 16-05-2017, 04:17 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Homester View Post
I believe rather than retraining to stay employable, I would rather the market to provide more job opportunities for HUMAN in the first place, then for technologies.

Reason being, if there is only a handful of jobs available but there are masses of applicants, the competition is stiff not to mention competition faced from technology as well as fellow humans.
But but but....

if technology is helping companies be more productive AND lower costs...
why would Human jobs be created just so humans who refuse to upgrade can "have a job"?

Companies is not charity. There's shareholders to answer to.

Even Charity also need to pay market rate to their staff (yes, they need to hire staff to do the work too ok.)

There's a chinese saying
山不转路转,路不转人转,人不转心转
Moutain dun turn, Road turn.
Road dun turn, Human turn.
Human dun turn, Heart(attitude) turn.

If one is not willing to put in effort, den they have to look at how they spend their limited $$ in different ways and change the level of comfort - eg downgrade house, buy NTUC brand instead of more expensive brand etc etc etc
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Old 16-05-2017, 04:20 PM   #27
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btw.. for those who are kpkb-ing say SG COST of living is high...
Try earning RM and staying in malaysia.

U earn RM1-2k per mth. 1 bowl wanton mee is RM6. Rental is sky high too. Buy property... HAHAHA, esp for younger ones these days.

U go in supermarket 1 round come out, easily RM200. And I'm not talkin those artsy fartsy tourist supermarket.. those i go usually caters to mainly locals (and have discounts not available at Tebrau, Bt Indah etc)

Scary die lor.. no joke.
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Old 16-05-2017, 04:58 PM   #28
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Housing used to be cheaper in M'sia than it was in SG.

A 2 bedroom small terrace (subsidized housing) could be obtained at RM40k maybe 15-20 years ago. Not sure how much would it cost today.

In comparison to 3rm HDB flat then, it would have cost maybe $170-200k then.

Local produce cars are still cheaper in M'sia while fuel cost more. Road tax and insurance shd be cheaper too. But overall car operating cost isn't cheaper (eg maintenance, etc).

In general, cost of living in M'sia is definitely higher than in SG. Same with most ASEAN countries.

Many people makes the mistake of converting SGD to other countries currency thus chip like a bird. Realty is, earn where spend where. Basic and simple logic.
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Old 17-05-2017, 04:52 PM   #29
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May Day Rally: Singapore has to work hard to tackle rising unemployment, says PM Lee
By Jalelah Abu Baker
01 May 2017 10:40AM (Updated: 01 May 2017 10:44PM)



SINGAPORE: Unemployment is expected to creep up further this year, as Singapore’s workforce ages and older workers who lose their jobs take longer to find new ones, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday (May 1).

Even as he is “cautiously optimistic” about Singapore’s economy, and sees growth likely to pick up from last year, Mr Lee said he expects a “steady trickle” of redundancies. As companies restructure, some workers will be displaced, he told unionists gathered at Our Tampines Hub for the annual May Day Rally.

Singapore’s economy expanded by 2 per cent last year, up slightly from 2015's 1.9 per cent, which was the country’s weakest annual growth rate since 2009. The unemployment rate climbed to 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

Still, Singapore’s unemployment rate is low in comparison to other developed countries, where they are typically much higher – at least 5 per cent, and sometimes, 10 per cent, Mr Lee said.

“We have to understand this trend, but at the same time we have to work hard to resist it, and to keep our workers in jobs,” he said.

He gave an example of PSA, which retained its workers when the port shifted to Pasir Panjang and used better technology. The workers were retrained, and quite a few took on new roles, he said.

CREATING NEW JOBS

In order to create new jobs, the Government will bring in new businesses and investments, and upgrade existing companies, a “winning formula for 50 years”, Mr Lee said.

“If we don’t have the new companies, if we don’t have a business-friendly environment where people want to come, there will be no new jobs,” he said, adding that the Economic Development Board has been working hard to get MNCs to invest in Singapore.

He gave examples of projects last year – electronics company Micron invested S$5.4 billion, expanded its facility at North Coast Drive and created 500 jobs; Search engine giant Google employed 1,000 people at its new campus in Mapletree Business City; chemical company Evonik broke ground for their second plant on Jurong Island, investing S$800 million and creating 150 jobs.

At the same time, the Government is helping local small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), both traditional and high-tech, to upgrade themselves, go overseas, expand and build new capabilities, Mr Lee said.

He highlighted Grandluxe, a Singaporean company set up 75 years ago as a book-binding workshop along Mohamad Sultan Road. It expanded into the printing business, setting up a factory in Jurong, printing stationery and notebooks.

But with the old business shrinking, the company decided to change their business model. They turned bookbinding into a premium craft, and started a new company called Bynd Artisan, where customers get to go to their retail shop, and pick materials. Now, at Bynd Artisan, which is selling to the world, skilled bookbinders will personalise leather books and goods.

One of these skilled bookbinders is Ms Tan Buay Heng, who started 40 years ago as a production operator, manually binding books. Ms Tan’s story, from production operator to retail branch manager, can become the story of other workers, Mr Lee said.

“What Bynd Artisan did, Spring and IE Singapore are helping many other SMEs to do. Not every SME can become a retail boutique book binder, but many can reinvent themselves and find new niches in which they can grow,” he added.

FINDING REPLACEMENT JOBS, UPGRADING

The Government is also helping those who have lost their jobs to find alternative jobs, especially professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs), Mr Lee said, adding that he is particularly concerned about sectors which are not doing well.

One such sector is the offshore and marine industry. From its last peak, the industry has lost about 30,000 jobs. While foreign workers were the first to be let go, about 1,000 local workers were let go last year, with another few hundred to lose their jobs this year, he said.

In order to improve the situation, the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees’ Union, Institute of Engineers in Singapore and the Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Employees' Union are working together to organise job fairs to help offshore and marine workers find new jobs in aerospace and transport engineering.

“It is a bold move for workers to go and do that. You have to go outside your comfort zone, but if you make the effort, you train, you can do it. Some have already done it,” he said.

Mr Lee urged Singaporeans not to give up, to be open-minded and flexible, and to take up new courses and re-skill. He also encouraged employers not to just recruit new graduates and to give mature workers a second chance, adding that the public sector is leading by example.

Government agencies like the Land Transport Authority, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Heath have been hiring mid-career PMETs, including mature workers, he said, adding that they have launched several conversion programmes to convert mid-career workers in order to hire them.

But workers must continue to put in effort to continue upgrading themselves, Mr Lee said. Workers in other countries are constantly upgrading, he said, giving the example of factory workers in Chengdu, China, who live in dormitories and take on e-learning at night.

“Unless we are as hungry as them, and as determined as them to upgrade ourselves, and willing to put in as great an effort, I think our cheese will be stolen. We have to make that effort, we have to strive, and we have to keep our position,” he said.

He said that Singapore has a headstart with SkillsFuture, which the International Monetary Fund calls “one of the most comprehensive skills development programmes” it has seen.

TRIPARTISM AS THE WAY FORWARD

At the centre of efforts to transform the economy and create jobs are Industry Transformation Maps, a recommendation from the Committee on the Future Economy, Mr Lee said.

For example, prospects are bright in the logistics industry – which, together with the transport industry, employs nearly 250,000 workers – because of technology, robotics and data analytics. The Government hopes there will be another 2,000 PMET jobs in logistics in the next five years, he said.

But to do that, everyone will have to play his part, Mr Lee said. Employers must invest in technology, train up workers, unions must work with employers, identify where the new jobs will be, and help workers get new skills, while the Government will support companies to adopt new technology and workers to get training. This is tripartism in action, he said.

HENG SWEE KEAT HEADS COUNCIL TO IMPLEMENT CFE STRATEGIES

Mr Lee also said that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat will take over from Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam as chair of tripartite council, the Council for Skills, Innovation and Productivity. It will be renamed the Future Economy Council.

Mr Heng will work with ministers such as Mr S Iswaran, Mr Chan Chun Sing, Mr Ong Ye Kung and Mr Lawrence Wong, to implement the strategies of the Committee of the Future Economy (CFE) which maps out a blueprint for Singapore's next phase of growth.

“It is an opportunity for the younger ministers to work closely together as a team, strengthen their bonds with employers and unions and with each other, and show Singaporeans what they can do. It is their generation of leadership who will have to work with you to take this country to new heights,” Mr Lee said, adding that a unique tripartite partnership is the secret to why Singapore has been able to transform its economy over and over again.

In concluding the rally, he said: “I have no doubt we will face further challenges ahead, even serious ones. But if we strengthen the tripartite system, and remain united, if the labour movement remains strong, takes care of our workers, and makes them co-owners of our system, and if all segments of society – workers as well as employers, managers and professionals as well as foremen and the rank-and-file – sacrifice equally when sacrifice is called for, and share in the fruits of success when things go well, I am confident we will overcome the challenges and emerge stronger.”

---------------

Don't know what did I miss out. Unemployment set to rise later this year, yet best Singaporean said economy set to pick up (economy up, unemployment also up)? Nevermind, I'm sure he makes sense.

Best Singaporean alive also compared our unemployment with developed countries... So is that saying, we got more room for unemployment,
to reach 5 or 10%? Hmmm

When we have smartest and most competent Singaporean speaking, stupid ppl like me gets lost.
Why keep letting in so many foreign trash and their whole villages when we can't even provide employment for our own kind?
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Old 17-05-2017, 05:25 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbysayang View Post
Why keep letting in so many foreign trash and their whole villages when we can't even provide employment for our own kind?
Cos there are some jobs Singaporean basically dun want to take. Those foreigners also smart, after working here for a few years, and upgrade their job when their work permit expires, indirectly upgrade themselves with relevant courses to S pass workers, asking for pay slightly less than Singaporean is asking for(Singaporean can really asking too much sometimes).

The place i work in has seen many Singaporean left due to certain small thing, which i can't reveal here. Have seen a temp foreign worker rise to permanent staff then engineer in 10yrs time by working hard . So ask yourself before asking government why let them in.

Finally it boils down to Singaporeans willing to take up these jobs offers and not be choosy if companies willing to hire Singaporeans first.
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