In Singapore, when there's a dispute, workers usually get the short end of the stick.
This woman was presumably laid off by her employer because she got pregnant. The employee obviously appealed to MOM for maternity benefits from her former employer, because she felt that she was wrongly laid off. After MOM intervention, the employer decides to make ex-gratia payment to the employee on a goodwill basis (meaning without admitting that the employee was wrongfully laid-off because she was pregnant).
While I am glad that the employee got some sort of compensation for being wrongfully discharged, the fact is, the woman has been deprived of her future incomes. Her only fault...she got pregnant.
Of course the employee would accept the compensation, without insisting to be reinstated to her former position. Why would she subject herself again to unfair employers? Especially when there are no legislation to protect her from such employment practices.
If this is how the woman in our workforce are being treated, why wouldn't our fertility rate not continue to remain low? For all the talk about fair employment practices, this is the sad state of tripartite alliance (PAP Government + Union + Employers) in Singapore.
Of course I have made certain assumptions based on the contents of this letter, but in this case, I'll gladly be proven wrong.
Source of letter: http://on.fb.me/13EGJFo
Ravi Philemon
*The author is a nice family man and is also a member of the NSP.