Singapore seems to have been more badly hit by the global downturn than its big trading partners. While Washington, London and Beijing are figuring out how to help homeowners and workers, Singapore is apparently mulling a pensions cut. That’s a sensible thing to do if it helps to protect jobs. But why not tell it like it is?
Thank goodness there’s Reuters online to cut through the blather. It says:
Singapore will convene its National Wages Council (NWC) in early January, four months ahead of schedule, in what economists say may be a prelude to a cut in employers' pension contributions.
Cool. I am not shocked by the news. The economy is tanking and the government is doing what it can to protect jobs. Even the labour chief has been urging companies to cut costs. Half a loaf is better than none.
So why are the local media doing the dance of the seven veils on what looks like a reasonable way to protect jobs? What’s preventing them from baring the naked truth? Rather than straightaway say employers may be allowed to contribute less to workers’ retirement funds, the Straits Times hems and haws about “wage guidelines”.
“The National Wages Council (NWC) will take the unusual step of meeting again next month to revise the wage guidelines it set earlier this year,” it says. It doesn’t say anywhere near the top of the story that pensions – the Central Provident Fund (CPF) – may be cut.
If the idea is to break the news gently, there’s no need for such solicitude. People are already tightening their belts.
As it is, the pension is the carrot at the end of a long stick. It takes longevity to get the full benefit. Money can be taken out of the CPF account only in phases from the age of 55.
What matters more to most people, who haven’t reached that age, is getting a pay check at the end of the month.
Still, it shows how bad things are in Singapore that workers may have to take a CPF cut to keep their jobs.
The government will really live up to its reputation for attracting top talent, the smartest people, on board if it can figure out any other way to protect jobs.
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