Business
Work for less than $4 an hour
By Tan Kin Lian  •  January 15, 2011
Mark Woon wrote in the Straits Times that fast food outlets, like McDonalds, pay students less than $4 an hour. At this rate, the students have to work many hours to earn enough to  pay for their meals. Some students do not have allowance from their parents and depend on part time work to earn money to meet the high cost of living in Singapore. I continue to be baffled by the reluctance of our policy makers and trade union leaders to impose a minimum wage in Singapore. I am sure that the businesses can afford a minimum wage of $6 an hour. While this increase their business cost, they should reduce the high salaries paid to their top managers and reject the exorbitant rentals on their business premises. It is a question of finding the right balance. By exploiting workers (including students) with low wages, the bigger portion of ......
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By Tan Kin Lian
Mr Tan Kin Lian (fomer NTUC Income CEO) started his insurance career in 1966 in a local life insurance company. He has also worked in various positions as a computer programmer, organisation and methods officer and consulting actuary. Mr Tan writes daily in his blog. The information in his blog is transparent and has an open approach.
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2 Comments

2 responses to “Work for less than $4 an hour”

  1. Minimum wage sounds good but must be implemented carefully. In my motherland it causes companies to hire less people then they need and create significant unemployment.

  2. Derek Lim says:

    Hi milleplateaux,

    I too think it is a double edge sword. The rationale to protect low income workers is good but to implement it fairly across all industries is very difficult.

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