Someone who works in the construction industry told me that construction companies in Singapore have become over-reliant on overly-cheap labour because of government policies which allow them to do so. Foreign workers are paid as low as $18 to 20 a day, or $200 to $300 a month.
Of the prices of the apartments sold, 60% is earned by the construction companies, which they also have to use to pay for construction costs, while the PAP government takes 40% of the rest as profit.
He said that the construction companies have become so overly-reliant on cheap labour that it has become difficult for them to restructure.
But perhaps the other way to look at it is that the government has become overly-reliant on easy profit from these companies and Singaporeans.
The PAP government not only earns 40% of the earnings of billions of dollars, it also earns billions in foreign worker levies.
Instead of the PAP government earning billions in profit, would it not make more sense if the government (1) takes only 20% of the earnings (or lesser) and (2) returns the foreign worker levies to the workers themselves?
When companies have more cash to pay workers higher wages and where workers get back the foreign workers levies as wages, instead of the PAP government taking them away, wages would increase.
This would also mean that wages of Singaporeans would similarly increase as well. When that happens, workers in Singapore would be able to earn at least $1,500.
So the solutions are there. It is not a lack of solutions that's the problem. The problem is with the PAP which is more concerned at calculating how much profit they want to earn, instead of being concerned about how much wages workers should be able to earn, to have adequate livelihoods.
When you understand how the problems can be solved and why they are not being done, you understand that it is not a lack of able minds, but a lack of political will by the PAP and an unwillingness by the PAP to allow Singaporeans to live better lives.
If so, you know what choice to make, to protect your own lives.
Roy Ngerng
However, those that go out of business are actually the inefficient businesses that would not survive in other developed countries with proper wages. They are only surviving because they are able to exploit cheap labour. As these inefficient companies hire many foreigners, those who lose their jobs will mainly be foreigners anyway. For the companies that do survive, there will be more Singaporeans applying to be a construction worker as the wages will be reasonable. In the end, there will be more jobs for Singaporeans.
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