I went to marina bay sand for a company event today. It was a really nice place. You don’t feel like you were in Singapore when you were there. Felt so much like we were somewhere in Paris or London.
The buildings and shops are still under construction. At 10plus am, there were already people lining up for the casino. Not sure if they were locals or tourist but frankly they didn’t looked like tourist though.
Remember how many jobs did the government promise us for the opening of these two IRs? And creating more vacancies is one of the main reasons to it. Our event was held in a huge convention hall. The chairs and stage were in front, buffets spread and other facilities at the back. While I explored that place during the food times, I noticed that, many buffet servers and even the toilet cleaner are China Chinese.
Are Singaporeans really unwilling to work for IR where they are able to get a good salary package (think of the charges they charge for each Singaporean to go into the casino and the fees they earn for each large convention, the rents they earn from the big brands in the malls, the money they saved from building Marina Bay Sand with the cheapest construction proposal and finally the income tax contributed by the Singaporeans.) IRs are just beautiful outside but rotten in the core? Having to say this, you might want to enjoy more of IRs free facilities like the wash rooms and the air con, etc. They are the money you pay for income taxes.
Are we being exploit in an openly manner? Gov lengthened our retirement age, asked us to upgrade our skills and improve our productivities but employ cheaper workers like the China Chinese where they were paid like $600/month. Which these actions indirectly tell us that we only worth that much for that kind of job?
And ‘force’ those gray hairs who usually have some pain in the knees or gets tired easily due to old age, to work long hours and earn only $300-400/month for collecting the heavy utensils in food courts and markets? Why can’t they take over that task for washing the toilets or mopping the floors in the malls where there are always air cons blasting onto their face for that decent pay of $800-900/month?
If you were to ask this question to a Gov official, they will definitely push the fault to the agents, vendors or the private employers who abuse the MOM rules. And the employers will say that they need younger workers who can provide more productivity. But why are they getting the job that is more relaxing and the gray hairs with tougher job and yet lesser pay? The employers need to look into the welfare of the foreign workers and also the integrity in putting gray hairs in tougher, lesser pay jobs.
As Singaporean, we are fated to be a mute in our benefits and say. We need to be heard and feel appreciated for staying put in this country. I love Singapore but not so much on the overcrowding, unfair treatment and everything ‘under control’ portion.
If the emperor is reluctant to walk the street and feel what the commoners are facing but focuses only on how much money he is going to make. The empire will forever be a city of strangers. No sense of belongings, no progress on democratization or will this city’s prosperity last peacefully.
