BY REICO WONG

SHARING the fruits of Singapore's economic prosperity with low-skilled and low-wage workers remains a key priority for the Government, but an overwhelming majority of Members of Parliament yesterday reiterated the stand that the best way to do this is not through a minimum-wage law.

Instead, the consensus was that more concentrated efforts must be made to look into the various ways to help the less privileged in society, in order to narrow the widening income disparity.

This was the key thrust of a five-hour-long parliamentary debate yesterday, sparked off by a motion urging the Government to bring about more inclusive growth in Singapore society.

The MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and Assistant Secretary- General of NTUC, Ms Josephine Teo, pointed out that to be meaningful, a minimum wage must force some employers to pay more than the market rate, which would effectively have the same effect as a tax on employment.

"To survive, some of these workers will choose to work illegally below minimum wage, just as some choose to forgo CPF today.

Companies that do not wish to engage in the illegal practice (of paying below minimum wage) and find it too costly to operate in Singapore will close shop or relocate," she said.

"Restructuring and relocation are already happening. Introducing a minimum wage will accelerate the pace without sharpening our competitiveness."

In his speech, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong also argued that a minimum-wage policy runs counter to the Singapore work ethic and culture of self-reliance. "A guaranteed level of income may remove the incentive for training for less-productive workers," he said.

No single MP yesterday outrightly advocated a minimumwage policy as a silver-bullet solution.

However, Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang and Nominated MPs (NMPs) Paulin Tay Straughan and Viswa Sadasivan maintained that the option should be examined further.

Mr Low proposed that an advisory board be set up to undertake research on a recommended minimum wage for specific industries, based on consultation with employers and unions.

He explained that this not only will expose employers who are grossly underpaying their staff or have not upgraded their processes, but also inspire employees to upgrade their skills.

Some MPs, including Madam Halimah Yacob of Jurong GRC, pointed out that there were flaws in such a recommendation.

"The complexity is that in each sector there are different types of companies. Some can pay more, some can pay the minimum wage, some cannot," she said.

The MPs were strongly supportive of stepping up efforts to enhance workers' skills and raise productivity under current programmes like Workfare.

Workers would then be able to benefit through higher built-in pay and bonuses as companies become more competitive.

"We should continue to encourage people to fish for themselves instead of depending on others to fish for them, and we should help them to fish more effectively," said NMP Terry Lee.

A variety of other initiatives were also suggested yesterday, including increasing the CPF cash payout under the Workfare scheme and the frequency of payouts.

reicow@sph.com.sg