TR EMERITUS

As an effort to ensure that CPF members have sufficient savings to support a basic standard of living during their retirement, the Singapore government has set up the Minimum Sum Scheme in 2003. With this Scheme, the members are required to leave a Minimum Sum in their CPF accounts at the age of 55. In return, from the drawdown age, they will receive monthly pay-outs which are designed to last for about 20 years. Alternatively, members may participate in CPF LIFE or buy approved life annuities with their Minimum Sum to give them a guaranteed income for life. The Minimum Sum is also adjusted over the years to account for inflation. From 1 July 2014, the Minimum Sum will be S$155,000 which applies to members who turn 55 between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015. Under the CPF LIFE Standard Plan, setting aside S$155,000 at the age 55 provides a lifelong pay-out of about S$1,200 per month. Since the government recognises that for retirees to maintain a basic standard of living, they need a minimum monthly income. It is puzzling why after more than a decade of setting up the Minimum Sum Scheme, the government has not set up a similar scheme for workers who need to do likewise. For the retirees, the minimum monthly income is provided for with the monthly pay-out from the Minimum Sum. So, the minimum monthly income required to maintain a basic standard of living is known already. Why not set up a Minimum Wage Scheme for low wage workers such that the minimum monthly wage equals the monthly pay-out? TW * Submitted by TRE reader.  Read More →

A news.com.au reader tweeted this photo. THE pilots of this Singapore Airlines plane have been left a little red-faced after it struck an aerobridge at Sydney Airport this morning. It is believed the A380 had just landed and was pulling into the gates when one of its engines impacted the aerobridge. A spokesperson for Sydney Airport told news.com.au,“there are no operational impacts and the damage is being assessed.” Singapore airlines released this statement to news.com.au. “Singapore Airlines flight SQ231, an Airbus A380 operating from Singapore to Sydney on 26 May, made contact with one of the gate’s aerobridges while taxiing at Sydney Airport. There were no injuries to the 285 passengers and 25 crew onboard. Our customers have safely disembarked, and our engineers are now assessing the aircraft. Outbound flight SQ222 has been cancelled and affected customers will be accommodated accordingly in order to minimise disruption to their travel plans. Customers due to travel on today’s flights SQ232 and SQ242 are unaffected. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers.” Source: www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/singapore-airlines-plane-hits-aerobridge-at-sydney-airport/story-e6frfq80-1226931921170  Read More →

We, the undersigned, are alarmed by the recent surge of racism and xenophobia in Singapore.  They threaten the human rights of all (especially migrants) and the health of our political conversation. The key to addressing the economic frustrations felt by many Singaporeans is to amend the economic policies and structures that cause worsening economic inequality and marginalisation.  These inequitable policies were not instituted by migrants and will not automatically disappear if the migrant population decreases.  We urge for the energies of civil society to be directed toward creating a fairer, more equal society for all, including universal labour rights and employment protections. Focusing on immigrants does not contribute to these structural changes and instead creates an unsafe and divisive society.  We see the widespread use of racist, aggressive and militarised rhetoric on social media, as well as a trend of blaming foreigners for social ills.  Ordinary people have been threatened in public spaces with nationalist and/or anti-foreigner language.  To identify “true blue Singaporeans”, people appeal to prejudices about race, class, skin colour, names, accent, language, and other markers of difference, creating an oppressive society where people constantly discriminate against one another. This supports various forms of discrimination, not just against non-Singaporeans but also among Singaporeans – for example, on the basis of gender, age, disability, class, ethnicity, descent and other characteristics. This anti-foreigner approach also stifles constructive political discussion.  Some elevate pink identity cards or National Service to sacred emblems of belonging and entitlement, which cannot then be discussed openly and inclusively. Discussion of immigration policy does not take place in a vacuum.  If we keep describing the presence of migrants as illegitimate and a threat to Singaporeans, this has inevitable effects on the treatment of migrants who are already in Singapore.  We must conduct any discussion of state policy in a way that is fully mindful of those effects. For years, Government policy and rhetoric have marginalised migrants and others, for instance by not giving domestic workers full and equal employment protections.  Even though the Government’s policies have an inevitable impact on societal discrimination, each of us must be responsible for the impact of our own contributions to Singapore’s social climate and political conversation. Civil society has a particular role to play in working to take care of the needs of minority groups such as migrants, rather than contributing to their marginalisation.  We should work to promote not only robust political debate, but also the values of equality and universal human rights.  Those values are the true animating force of our desire for social change, and they require us to unite in rejecting the politics of division, xenophobia and hate. Signatories: Organisations Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) Beyond the Border, Behind the Men Function 8 Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) LeftWrite Center MARUAH Project X Sayoni Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign Think Centre Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) Workfair Individuals Fikri Alkhatib Damien Chng Ian Chong Jean Chong Chong Si Min Kirsten Han Farhan M. Idris Godwin Koay Lynn Lee Siew Kum Hong Constance Singam Alvin Tan Cheong Kheng Jolene Tan Teng Qian Xi Shelley Thio Teo Soh Lung Vincent Wijeysingha Mark Wong De Yi Wong Pei Chi June Yang Yajun Yap Ching Wi Rachel Zeng  Read More →