News this week included: NUS among those being blackmailed following data breach; two Singapore residents isolated after Hantavirus exposure; some HDB flats are hotter than the outdoors; tourism receipts blazing new records; plans for a potential government-run dating service (oh, the horror); the implications of falling fresh-grad employment numbers; a new agency to support workers and employers; Indranee’s parenthood reframing, and performance, draws flak; a boost to palliative care; don’t buy contact lenses from unverified online sources; Trump’s war the reason moms can’t have flowers on Mother’s Day; a historic Singapore-New Zealand essential supplies pact; more than a thousand people go missing in Singapore every year; Workers’ Party reprimands Pritam Singh; news about caning for bullying goes global (TLDR: no one approves); jail time for those feeding pigeons, crows, and others (watch out, ah ma!); High Court overturns acquittal of three women who delivered letter to Istana; SG’s press freedom score falls further (yes, possible); bus guitar-hero told to strum from seat; man arrested for church assault; new railway laws ahead of December’s RTS Link launch; Sentosa croc put down; companies can now simultaneously list on SGX and Nasdaq; and SG athletes’ late-career struggles.
Below are the issues we explore in depth:
Society: Workers’ paradise, according to the PAP-NTUC brotherhood
“Majulah NTUC, Majulah PAP, Majulah Singapura!” Lawrence Wong, prime minister, chanted, as he ended another Labour Day rally speech. He was wearing not his party’s trademark white, but a red polo t-shirt bearing the insignia of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC). Light reflected off his sweat-dappled upper lip, mingling with the tears, at the end of a 48min performance with an emotional denouement. While reading the testimony of a Singaporean who’d been evacuated from the Middle East by the Republic of Singapore Air Force, Wong repeatedly broke down, more intensely than during the pandemic, when we first witnessed his comfort with public vulnerability. Yet again, it seemed genuine and touching, from the neighbourhood boy who’s assumed Singapore’s powerful executive office: a shepherd who cares for, and will take credit for, the wellbeing of every sheep.
That many have focused on the crying reflects the lack of any bold measures to help workers. An extended discussion around the Middle East crisis, oil shocks, and the threat of stagflation concluded with promises that nobody will starve: yes, more VCRs (vouchers, cash, rebates) when they’re needed. It was followed by a 25min elaboration on AI “transformation”—the word “opportunities” featured seven times, “threat” zero—and the supposed benefits of Singapore’s unique tripartism (government, unions, and employers).
Through it all Wong exhibited his signature ability to break down complex issues with nuance, supplementing them with real-life stories: from Yi Tay, the NTU graduate now working on Google’s Gemini, to 62-year-old Yahya Kharthi, who’s worked for SMRT for more than 30 years, and was on the verge of retirement but is now pleased as punch, apparently, because his job is less demanding thanks to—sure enough—automation and robotics. The lesson for humans is clear: aspire to be somebody who can get and keep a job alongside robots.
Wong acknowledged as much: first citing an anecdote about Excel spreadsheets rendering data clerks obsolete in the 1990s, then warning that the impact of AI will be greater. “We may not be able to protect every job. But we will protect every worker. Because in Singapore, every worker matters!” Well, to a point. NTUC is an umbrella group that, instead of acting as a separate power centre as is common elsewhere, has long worked in lockstep with the pro-business agenda of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). The PAP’s co-option of the labour movement—Lee Kuan Yew first harnessing its fire and then dousing it—has enabled the creation of a society that privileges capital owners and elite “talent” above all others. It’s no surprise they enjoy a tripartism where workers are defanged and always show up.
With the support of businesses and almost two-thirds of the electorate, why change? PAP fans appreciate the tweaks, such as the new Skills and Workforce Development Agency. And cheer Singapore’s consistently low unemployment rate. Yet, others have become more aware of socio-economic injustices. Jobs, but poor quality; no minimum wage; high income inequality (that sees office cleaners earning under S$20,000 a year); and longer hours worked than in many developed countries. These and other problems have sparked a growing alternative labour movement (see below). Stirring as it may be, and strive as all lefties must for a society more just, the Singaporean worker must also countenance a future where politicians and tech lords rake it in, fortunate workers enjoy plum jobs alongside machines, and others bounce around from one reskilling to another, kept alive on the VCR dripfeed. Oh, and the occasional tear from your empathetic shepherd.
Society: Workers’ paradise, according to WMP-SGCR
Tripartism may be working for the faithful, but not for many others. Dramatic demonstrations of resistance, like the “illegal strike” by bus drivers in 2012, capture the country’s attention. But away from the public’s eye, little perturbations by disparate groups of disgruntled employees have been steadily coalescing into a larger disturbance to the force. Awakened and energised by a new breed of youth activists, and spurred on by the success of 2022’s criticism of Watson’s alleged no-sitting policy, workers are fighting for their rights. Not just those enshrined yet unfulfilled by unscrupulous bosses—but also those that they believe they deserve in a caring, humane society.
