The Rhetoric
“We all are one family.”
– PM Goh Chok Tong, August 9, 2001The Reality
Between 1998 and 1999, the average household monthly income of the poorest 10 percent of the population decreased by nearly 50 percent from $258 to $133. In the same period, the incomes of the richest 10 percent increased by 2.6 percent from $15,053 to $15,451.
The following year, the average household income of the poorest 10 percent fell by another 54 percent from $133 a month to $61. In the same period, the incomes of the richest 10 percent increased by another 8.8 percent.