Is Singapore too 'advanced' (GDP too high) for a minimum wage law?

Me thinks that Singapore is too developed for the imposition of min wage laws.

U cannot deny it, the Singapore economy on steroids.
In 'Foreign worker levies to increase, says MOM' [CNA; 21Feb2011]: "There are nearly 1.1 million foreigners employed in Singapore as at end-2010. ... 871,000 work permit holders "
With so many foreigners hired to keep Singapore's GDP high and lofty, many (the 871,000 work-permit holders) mostly doing menial/ poorly paid jobs, it would be 'inconvenient' to impose a minimum wage because that would probably mean perhaps even doubling the salaries of many foreign workers especially work-permit holders. Many Singapore companies will then have to leave Singapore or close down overnight.

It would also be too troublesome determining the minimum wage for both part time work (especially that at odd hours) as well as the minimum wage for a handicapped/ older worker since many handicap workers might agree to be paid less just for the fact that they accept their handicap or else have other sources of savings/ income and only see employment just to keep alert/ to pass the time in a way they find productive. The workforce at MOM is already in excess of 2300staff (yr2011)[source] and the running cost alone of MOM being $400,476,200 p.a. (est.2011). There is no more space/ funding to enlarge the MOM bureaucracy to cope with additional complaints and disputes about the underpayment of wages unless Singaporeans want the MOM to balloon up to the manpower size of the SAF perhaps.

More attention on cash transfers to the poor/ disadvantaged should thus be considered rather than a blunder bust approach such as the minimum wage which is too shallow a solution for Singapore's steroid pumped economy.

[pict/ charts appended below]

Quote:

Why it is worth looking at minimum wage next 04:45 AM Mar 24, 2012 Letter from Gilbert Goh As I pondered the Ministry of Manpower's initiatives announced recently in Parliament, I wondered why a pertinent issue affecting Singapore did not surface: The lack of a minimum wage. Even Malaysia is starting to introduce minimum wage. Many of our lowest wage earners, such as cleaners and security guards, are struggling with their pay. Such blue-collar workers need better protection against employers out to squeeze more profits by paying the lowest wages possible, in some cases, S$500 a month for cleaners who work six days a week, 10 hours a day. Meanwhile, the security industry has the worst working environment here. Some guards chalk up 12-hour work shifts and six-day work weeks. Their pay seldom touches S$1,800 a month, or about S$6 an hour. Looking into a minimum wage should be a priority for MOM. Locals would then be encouraged to take up jobs in the service industry, which has many foreign workers. Granted, if minimum wage is introduced, some small businesses would have difficulty coping and may shut down. The chances are that these are the ones that are most dependent on cheap foreign labour to survive. Singapore does not need such low-end industries in order to move forward. We need companies that can survive despite paying good wages to our workers, and hopefully, this would spur productivity. Given the supply of foreign labour here, even with the MOM's latest initiatives, there is not enough incentive for small and medium enterprises to truly improve on productivity. If countries such as Australia and Canada can hire a mostly local service crew because of minimum wage, I do not see why Singapore cannot do the same. We simply need a mindset change. We should not encourage employers to survive simply because of cheap foreign labour. URL http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/ED...imum-wage-next Copyright 2012 MediaCorp Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved

[Chart: TOTAL ESTIMATES OUTLAYS FOR FY 2011 BY HEAD OF EXPENDITURE (Singapore)/ (Source)]

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24Mar2012: Is Singapore too 'advanced' (GDP too high) for a minimum wage law?