The Rhetoric
“Ours should be a future of opportunity and promise. We should have a prospering economy, creating good jobs for all.”
– PM Lee Hsien Loong, National Day Rally 2004The Reality
“Nearly 300,000 Singaporean workers earn $1,200 or less in gross monthly income. Half of them, or one in 10 workers, earn even less – $900. They are the group most vulnerable to retrenchments and fallout from economic restructuring. Many already struggle to make ends meet and have little or nothing for their medical and retirement needs.”
– Straits Times, July 1, 2005