Nicole Rebecca Seah Reading this article made my blood boil. Its akin to the expatriates I encounter who tell me Oh you Singaporeans have absolutely nothing to complain about and should be grateful to LKY for what hes done, while at the same time mocking and deriding the dearth of creative and proactive talent in Singapore. Stop comparing our levels of poverty to the poorest of the poor in other developing countries. Are we a developing country? No, we are not. So shouldnt we set our OWN benchmarks for what we want for the weakest and the poorest of our people? Yes, perhaps a significant population of the poor do have public housing and a roof over their heads. The homeless camping in tents are usually spotted by the watchful eyes of the police and shipped off to god knows where. I have heard of where they go to, and if the rumors are true, I feel sorry and shudder to think about their well-being. That said, poverty, unlike other countries, is as well hidden in Singapore as our freedom of expression. Expatriates come in living the high life on this material playground, while being completely blind to the thousands who are fed by free food doled out from temples and soup kitches everyday. The thousands of people who shy away in their barely furnished rental flats, unable to cook because they cannot afford electricity or water, and rely on well-meaning handouts, which do not always arrive regularly. LOOK INTO THE HOMES OF THESE PEOPLE. LOOK AT THE ONES WHO ARE LADEN WITH CHRONIC MEDICAL BILLS. LISTEN TO THEIR STRUGGLES. Most importantly, LOOK INTO THEIR EYES. You will see fear, bleakness, hopelessness and uncertainty. Ive spoken about low wage creation in earlier posts several times and will not belabour the point, though it is bemusing to note that there isnt the same level of urgency to raise wages on % in tandem with the more well-off in society, creating an even wider income and social gap. The middle class is already growing to grudgingly accept that they, along with the rest of the world, will not have it as good as their parents, unless they were born into money. The poor here might not be as poor as the poor in other countries, but it does not discount the struggles that they go through on a daily basis. If we cannot help them, then at least let us help their children to break out of the poverty cycle through education and social work support. (Again, have covered this in detail in earlier posts on this page) As an elected official (I believe it was Chen Show Mao) once said, the indication of the success of a countrys governance is its ability to take care of the poorest in its society. We cannot afford this growing income inequality. Our society is fragmented enough as it is and my medium term assessment is that it will get even worse because of the density of our infrastructure and population. The next person who whines about the cliff effect is going to get thrown off it with my bare hands, million dollar paycheck or not.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 10:13:29 +0000
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