Addressing cost-of-living anxieties and uplifting lower wage workers
BUDGET DEBATE SPEECH BY MR MELVIN YONG (RADIN MAS SMC) ON 27 FEB 2024
1. Mr Speaker, I support the Budget, which seeks to tackle immediate cost-of-living pressures, create more paths for social mobility, and forge a stronger shared future.
2. Today, I wish to highlight the anxieties that many Singaporeans face in our current employment climate. MOM’s preliminary data has shown that retrenchments have more than doubled in the past year and this is expected to rise even further.
3. I will also talk about how we can better support our low wage workers, by expanding the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to other sectors and exploring the Career Progression Model for skilled professions.
The Government cannot do it alone
4. Sir, Budget 2024 continues the trend where social spending makes up the largest part of the Government’s spending plans. This is the right move as Singapore is affected by a double whammy of an ageing population and the continued cost-of-living pressures.
5. It is no secret that Singaporeans are anxious about the steady and unabating rise in our cost-of-living. All of us would have felt the impact of inflation when we buy our meals at hawker centres and when we pay our monthly utility bills.
6. In NTUC’s most recent annual survey on economic sentiments, 63% of respondents felt that their income did not increase sufficiently to match the rise in the cost-of-living. Our survey also found that older workers felt this more acutely, likely due to the short runway they have till retirement.
7. Many young seniors in Radin Mas have also shared with me their growing worries about retirement adequacy, wondering if their retirement nest eggs can survive being eroded by inflation.
8. I am therefore heartened that Budget 2024 will enhance the Assurance Package by $1.9 billion. The additional CDC vouchers, the Cost-Of-Living Special Payment, U-Save and S&CC rebates will go some way in helping Singaporeans defray the rise in prices.
9. In addition to alleviating immediate cost-of-living pressures, Budget 2024 continues the Government’s trend of increasing our social spend to cater to a rapidly ageing population and to ensure social mobility. Between 2010 to 2019, we nearly doubled our social spending to $37 billion.
10. During this term of Government, the budget allocated to MSF will increase by about 18%, from $3.9 billion in FY2020 to an estimated $4.6 billion in FY2024.
11. I fully support this, and I will speak more about the good work done by MSF during the COS debate. As we build our shared future together, we must retain our core identity as an inclusive society. A society where no one will be left behind.
Private sector and civil society can help
Corporate initiatives
12. The private sector and civil society can also do their part in the fight against inflation. I am happy to read about exemplary companies such as NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, and DBS — just to name a few — that have rolled out meaningful initiatives to help consumers stretch their dollar.
13. NTUC has rolled out various measures to help Singaporeans mitigate the rise in cost-of-living. Initiatives such as the $8 FairPrice Return Voucher for every $80 nett spend using CDC vouchers, and the GST offset on 500 essential items, have helped many Singaporeans defray inflation.
14. At Kopitiam, union members can enjoy a breakfast set starting from $2.20. Transport workers continue to pay 60 cents for a cup of Kopi-O or Teh-O at over 50 canteens operated by the National Transport Workers’ Union.
15. I was also heartened to read that DBS has extended its 5 Million Hawker Meals initiative by six months. The initiative allows patrons of various hawker stalls who use the DBS PayLah! app to get up to $3 off their meals every Friday.
16. Hawkers in my Radin Mas constituency tell me that this has helped to boost business, and my residents tell me that the $3 offset is substantive!
17. I encourage more companies to join NTUC and DBS in helping to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures.
Community initiatives
18. Sir, various community initiatives have also sprung up to help tackle the increasing prices of our everyday essentials. In Radin Mas, we launched the “It’s On Me” programme in 2021, where patrons to Redhill Food Centre and Telok Blangah Crescent Food Centre can pay a little extra when buying their own meals to treat someone in need.
19. Since its launch, the programme has given away more than 100,000 free meals. Beneficiaries have told me that they deeply appreciate how as a community initiative, “It’s On Me” does not require any means testing.
20. To further assist vulnerable residents, Radin Mas launched the EZ-Meals programme last month. Beneficiaries can approach more than 80 participating hawker stalls in the constituency to offset $3 from the price of their meals.
21. This helps keep the cost of food low for some 200 beneficiaries, while providing a wide variety of food options.
22. To help consumers find the best deals and stretch their dollar, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) launched the Price Kaki app in 2019 to allow an easy comparison for prices of daily essentials.
23. The app has since been downloaded by more than 150,000 users, who use it to check the prices of over 10,000 daily essentials and about 75,000 cooked food items islandwide.
24. I am also glad that HDB and GovTech had recently launched the Great Budget Meal Hunt, creating a portal to crowdsource budget meal recommendations at HDB coffeeshops. Together with Price Kaki, this will provide consumers with greater awareness and more choices to help them stretch their dollar.
Enhancing Price Kaki
25. Following the success of the Price Kaki app, CASE realised that over time, we have built up a substantial number of “super users”. They use the app daily and share deals with their family and friends — often by sending a screenshot across WhatsApp groups.
26. The Price Kaki team has spoken to some of these super users, who tell us that they hope to be able to share the best “lobang” and promotions within their neighbourhoods to other users through the app, so that we can build micro-communities of like-minded individuals.
27. I call these users our “Price Kaki Champions”, and we value their feedback. CASE will therefore enhance the app, by launching a community feature in Price Kaki. This new function will be available in a few days’ time and will allow users to share reviews, in-store promotions, and tips to better stretch every dollar.
28. We will also grow our community of Price Kaki Champions offline, so that we can bring the benefits of Price Kaki to as many consumers as possible. I am happy to announce that CASE will work with the People’s Association to recruit 2,000 grassroots volunteers across all constituencies as Price Kaki Champions.
29. These volunteers will help to suss out deals within their neighbourhood and teach others to use the Price Kaki app to find the best deals.
30. As we grow our network of Price Kaki Champions, I am confident that we will further improve price transparency, promote cost-consciousness, and empower consumers to make better value-for-money purchase decisions.
A good job and a steady income are the best hedge
31. Mr Speaker, the long-term solution against inflation must be an increase in real wages — to ensure that workers keep their jobs and wages keep pace with the rise in prices.
32. At NTUC, we believe that — jobs are the best welfare and full employment is the best protection for our workers.
33. This is especially true for our lower-wage brothers and sisters, who have seen their wages decrease in real terms in 2023. I was therefore heartened to read how all three of our local banks — DBS, UOB, and OCBC — are giving their junior staff a one-off payment to help them cope with cost-of-living pressures.
34. Beyond company specific initiatives, NTUC has been relentlessly championing for a way to increase wages through upgrading skills and improving productivity.
35. We first conceptualised PWM for the cleaning sector and expanded it to other sectors where outsourcing practices were common, such as security, landscape, and lift and escalator maintenance.
36. Workers have benefitted through faster wage growth. From 2022 to 2028, workers covered by the PWM can expect cumulative wage increases of up to 80%.
37. Members would have read news that countries with minimum wage policies are starting to look towards the Singapore Progressive Wage Model, recognising that minimum wage had become a wage ceiling rather than a floor, resulting in stagnant wages.
38. Mr Speaker, PWM operates within a framework that carefully balances multiple factors, including industry dynamics, economic sustainability, and prevailing labour market conditions.
39. It is a pivotal component of Singapore’s strategy in pursuing sustainable income growth and plays a crucial role in uplifting the earning potential of workers across a spectrum of sectors and occupations.
40. Despite initial concerns, empirical evidence has demonstrated that the implementation of PWM does not lead to job losses.
41. This achievement is attributed to our tripartite process to establish consensus and buy-in, ensuring that any wage increases are acceptable and feasible for employers, thereby safeguarding against adverse impacts on employment levels.
42. While the overarching goal of PWM is to improve the livelihoods of workers, achieving parity between their wages and those of university graduates, as suggested yesterday by the Honourable Member Mr Raj Joshua Thomas, poses challenges.
43. These challenges stem from the need to navigate various constraints, including ensuring that wage adjustments remain manageable for employers, contribute to the sustainable operation of businesses, and do not jeopardize overall employment levels.
44. In sum, PWM adopts a pragmatic approach focused on raising wages sustainably. By adhering to this approach, PWM continues to serve as an effective tool for sustaining income progression while simultaneously addressing the diverse needs and complexities of both workers and employers within the broader economic landscape of Singapore.
45. While we have come a long way for the PWM, we must always look ahead. The Labour Movement has proposed for elements of the PWM to be expanded to more roles such as strata management and pest management.
46. Beyond our lower-wage workers, we must also uplift our skilled trade workers to develop their skills, attain mastery and build long-term careers.
47. One of the announcements that stood out in this Budget was the ITE Progression Award to empower ITE graduates to upskill to a diploma earlier in their careers. They will get a total of $15,000 in top-ups when they complete the diploma.
48. Having a skills-based, job-relevant diploma will certainly give a helpful career boost to our ITE graduates. NTUC will work with agencies to develop Career Progression Models with specific career and accreditation pathways for skilled trade workers and essential workers.
49. Most recently, MOM launched a Progressive Wage Portal for our lower-wage workers. The portal will allow PWM workers to view their PWM wages and job levels that their employers have placed them on.
50. The Labour Movement commends MOM’s efforts in raising public awareness of PWM requirements. NTUC will continue working with our tripartite partners to ensure compliance to PWM wages and requirements.
51. NTUC cares because every worker matters, and we will not hesitate to take strong action against companies who attempt to circumvent the PWM requirements.
Conclusion
52. Mr Speaker, Budget 2024 continues a streak of caring budgets by the PAP. Inflation dynamics are still in flux and concerns about the cost of living will not go away.
53. But I am glad that the 4G team, led by DPM Wong, have set their sights on addressing acute challenges that Singapore faces, such as tempering inequality and sustaining social mobility.
54. In building our shared future together, we must continue our tripartite efforts to expand the Progressive Wage Model, so that workers will have good jobs and a growing income to combat inflation.
55. Sir, I support the Budget.
