Are Singaporean workers well-paid?
There is no legislation requiring minimum wage in Singapore and retrenchment entitlements for laid-off workers. As a result Singaporean workers, especially those employed in manual labour, are relatively among the worst paid in the world. The median wage of an office cleaner or driver, adjusted for productivity, ‘is among the lowest in 59 countries worldwide.’ Only Russia, the Ukraine, and Ecuador are paid less. Secretaries don’t do much better; their wages rank fiftieth among the 59 countries. You may also wish to note that Singapore’s gross domestic product per capita is 25 times greater than Indonesia’s while Perc says its average labour costs are only 1.6 times as great. This sort of disparity with neighbouring countries is common and suggests that Singapore workers are underpaid for their level of productivity. Is it any wonder then that the financial liabilities of Singaporeans soared from 118 per cent of personal disposable income in 1995 to 174 percent in 2000, by far making th
