Income gap is widening ....and social mobility

Students are concern about the widening income
gap and the loss of social mobility that could follow.

The MPs told the students that...it is a global
phenomenon and in other countries (like India and China)
the gaps are wider than Singapore.

This is a very dishonest answer. It is nonsense
to make such comparison. Until recently, most third
word countries do not have a middle class. They had
only the rich and the very poor. Their income gaps was
very high and they have little social mobility.

Singapore had a different scenario in the past.
The were few rich, a relatively large middle income
group and a large low income group, not very much different
from the USA or UK.
Now the income gap between the middle income and
the low income is very much wider now... and Singapore
income gap is getting large every year and soon we will be
like in India and China, having only the rich and the poor.

The wage policy and the performance of the economy
have contributed to this widdening of the income gap.

Obviously, the MPs were talking ***...their knowledge
on the subject is laughable and it follows ....that nothing
will be done to resolve the problem because of their
ignorance.

Bad boy.

kilometric" <katami@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dd0vf2$r9n$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/sub/views/story/0,4574,165240,00.html?
>
> More young people seem to believe so - and that's a development that
> policy-makers should watch
>
> By UMA SHANKARI
>
>
> AT A STUDENT symposium I attended recently, a session was devoted to the
> widening income gap in Singapore and whether it is cause for concern.
>
>
> The session, organised by the Singapore International Foundation, gave
> students a chance to talk to labour MP Halimah Yacob and West Coast GRC MP
> Choo Ho Geok about the growing income gap revealed by the recent Household
> Expenditure Survey.
>
> Mdm Halimah and Mdm Ho said the government is doing all it can to reduce
> the
> income gap. But some students said they are worried. They believe the gap,
> besides making it difficult for those at the bottom to live, is reducing
> social mobility.
>
> The Household Expenditure Survey, which tracked income changes between
> 1998
> and 2003, found the average monthly household income of the lower 40 per
> cent of Singaporeans remained unchanged or declined. At the same time, the
> household income of the top 20 per cent increased almost 12 per cent.
>
> Mdm Halimah and Mdm Ho pointed out that income gaps are a global
> phenomenon.
> And they noted that Singapore, with its high home ownership rate, is
> better
> off than many countries, where the income gap is much wider. Also, they
> said, the authorities are trying to help.
>
> Acknowledging that there are some who need help, the government recently
> launched the $500 million ComCare Fund, aimed at levelling the playing
> field
> for children from needy families.
>
> But in a way, the students - and the authorities - may be missing the
> point.
> The way some students see things, it's not that Singapore isn't better off
> than other countries or that the government isn't doing enough to help;
> rather, their concern is that Singapore is not as committed to meritocracy
> as it once was. As one student put it: 'We are not as meritorious as we
> were.'
>
> This should worry policy makers. Since independence in 1965, Singapore has
> proudly promoted meritocracy and rapid social mobility. And the fact that
> some younger people are beginning to doubt whether this system still
> exists
> in totality shows that something is wrong somewhere.
>
> Students at the symposium seem to believe that this 'somewhere' is the
> education system. Some popular schools here give admission preference to
> applicants whose parents studied at the school. Agreed, it makes sense to
> let siblings attend the same school. But the reason for giving preference
> to
> the children of alumni - who may well be higher income people - escapes
> me.
>
> Another concern raised at the discussion - by panelist Soon Sze Meng, who
> has been vocal recently on whether the education system may be
> increasingly
> benefiting the better-off - is that property around the more popular
> schools
> is highly sought after and becoming increasingly expensive, giving the
> children of wealthier Singaporeans a better chance of attending these
> schools.
>
> Recent ministerial speeches, including those by Prime Minister Lee Hsien
> Loong, suggest the government is watching the income gap closely. But the
> belief of some younger people is that it needs to work fast to convince
> the
> next generation that social mobility is still very much possible.
>
>


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