Not for love of money, but of Humanity. "Greater is he who works for the good of all, then he who works for the good of himself only" ~ Matthew 25:40: "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"- (NIV). I live in Singapore where the Emperor must not be disturbed.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Whom should we vote for come election to request "minimum wage"?

Whom should we vote for come elections to request "minimum wages"?
Quote:
Hong Kong agrees to minimum wage as billionaires' wealth soars
05:55 AM Jan 07, 2011
HONG KONG - Lawmakers in Hong Kong set the city's first statutory minimum wage at HK$28
($4.70) per hour as a report showed the wealth of the city's top 40 billionaires jumped 21 per cent.
Legislators on Wednesday ratified the Government's plan to increase salaries for about 314,600 workers by an average of 17 per cent.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang's government is introducing the minimum wage from May 1 to help reduce a widening wealth gap and resolve "social and economic conflicts" highlighted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in December.
Hong Kong has the biggest divide between the rich and the poor in Asia, according to a United Nations report.
The 40 richest people have US$163 billion ($211 billion), up from US$135 billion last year after China's growth bolstered their investments, according to Forbes Magazine.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of workers live on hourly wages, sometimes as low as US$2 an hour. "A minimum wage won't change the income disparity in Hong Kong," said Mr Lee Cheuk Yan, a lawmaker representing the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. "Business owners are getting a big chunk of the profit while workers only get a small rise in their paycheque."
At the other end of the spectrum, some lawmakers are arguing that the minimum wage is not high enough.
"The minimum wage level is not enough for low-income groups to catch up with the inflation rate," said legislator Leung Yiu Chung, who called for an hourly wage of HK$33.
Across Asia and the Pacific, some nations and cities have more generous minimum wages, some less so.
In Beijing, the minimum rose more than 20 per cent to 1,160 yuan ($227) a month from Jan 1, according to the Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. Singapore does not have a minimum wage.
In Tokyo, the level is ¥821 ($12.80) an hour. Thailand increased its minimum wages to 221 baht ($9.50) a day in Phuket and 215 baht each day in the capital Bangkok on Jan 1. Bloomberg
URL http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC...s-wealth-soars
Copyright 2011 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved
As quoted 'Hong Kong agrees to minimum wage as billionaires' wealth soars'
Communist Beijing has it, Tokyo (Japan) has it, Phuket and Bangkok (Thailand) have it, HongKong will have it come May 1st 2011.
With the greed of the US lead Anarcho-capitalist having infiltrated of so many economic systems, the wealth divide in so many countries has since increased to such an extent that a two pronged approach to poverty is necessary: both a minimum wage for those employable as well as a welfare safety net for those not.
As reported, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is all for "reduce a widening wealth gap and resolve 'social and economic conflicts'".

But all we have in Sinkapore is an Anarcho-capitalist CEO PM prancing around seeking adulation like so: 'PM Lee says countries worldwide respect and admire Singapore's proven system'(2006) and followed by "How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker center, food court or restaurant?"(2007).

Anyhow, with only state run media around, requesting a minimum and fair wage would surely be a hard fight in Sinkapore; the quoted report being an unlikely rare find.

With a government naming its own salary with the reason inter-alia one of being paid not to be corrupt, Sinkapore is a sad social tragedy brewing.

Then again Communist China's Wen Jiabao's enlightened moves resembling the precepts of Communitarianism and the audible whining of the Anarcho-capitalist (AC) led Americans, mired in their debts stemming from greed and ease might actually be able to wake some sense into the mind of our paranoid AC Dragon Prince.

So life in Sinkapore mightn't be so dim after all!

Really, can we please have more regular political debate on TV (both PAP and opposition members have forum on TV on important national topics), the PAP puppet parliamentary debates amongst the coat-tail MPs and fake opposition NCMPs is most distressing and the rare election rally- crude, irritating and abrasive. What we want is real face to face, chaired debate on TV and in parliament each and every other day (TV) please. The nominal weekly 15 minute CNA Sunday news c.u.m. talk show (Talking Point) is inadequate debate if a first world economy that has any regard for democratic leadership.

Then again our Anarcho-capitalist CEO leader must hope that Singaporeans are all too daft to understand the definition of the Gini Coefficient or that SG actually has the second highest Income gap in the world after HKG, but they soon will.

The stomachs of the poor are grumbling, and they are getting sick and tired of waiting.

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"- (Matthew 25:40, NIV)

References:
- 'Singapore ministers set for million-dollar pay hike': "'If we don't do that ... corruption will set in and we will become like many other countries,' Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean was quoted as saying in the Straits Times last week." [Reuters,5Apr2011]
- 'Woman aspires to be the world's fattest female': "Simpson, who is from New Jersey, tells Daily Mail that she aspires to be the fattest woman in the world... she runs a website where people pay to watch her eat or wash her huge body." [DChilli, 16Mar2010]
- 'Countries with the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor': "Top 11 Countries With the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor: 1 Hong Kong, 2 Singapore, 3 U.S., 4 Israel, 5 Portugal, 6 New Zealand..." [BusinessWk, 16Oct2009]
- 'Holy Bible': "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"- [NIV/ Matthew 25:40]


Majulah Singapura,
Rgds All,
Love
B.C.


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At/ related:
A1forum:
08Jan2011: Whom should we vote for come elections to request "minimum wage"?
10Jan2011: PM Lee: Singapore strives to look out for less successful
SGClub:
08Jan2011: Whom should we vote for come election to request "minimum wages"?
HWZ:
08Jan2011: Whom should we vote for come election to request "minimum wages"?

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