Pages

Share This

Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts

Friday, May 10, 2024

Clarion call for quality education, Update of syllabi needed, Time needed to revamp system, say experts

The Implications of Outdated Syllabus: A Call for Education ...

 The national education system needs an urgent overhaul by making changes to irrelevant subjects, says Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim. New and proactive initiatives are needed to equip the country’s youth to face upcoming challenges, the Regent of Johor says in his first state assembly speech. Experts agree on the need to transform the current national education syllabi but reorienting an education system could take time.

Royal presence: Tunku Ismail (left) opening the third term of the 15th state assembly sitting in Kota Iskandar. — Bernama

Update of syllabi needed


ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Regent of Johor has called for a national education reform by making changes to the syllabi of subjects that are no longer relevant to ensure that the next generation will remain competitive.

Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said the Federal Government should take more proactive measures to improve the quality, system and facilities of education.

“An important change that needs to be made is to update the syllabi of subjects that are no longer relevant.

“If this cannot be done at the national level, let Johor become the first state to change the syllabi in our schools,” he decreed when opening the third term of the 15th state assembly sitting in Kota Iskandar here yesterday.

It is also his first state assembly opening speech as Regent of Johor.

According to Tunku Ismail, he has always stressed the importance of quality education for the people.

“Quality education is the basis of a developed state. It will help to solve various issues and bring more job opportunities to the next generation,” he said.

He also highlighted a recent World Bank report as well as the country’s substandard performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) in his speech.

Malaysia’s achievements in the international assessment “Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study” and Pisa have yet to reach the top three positions as desired in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

“If we do not face these realities, then we should not complain when our next generation is less competitive compared with their peers.

“New and proactive initiatives are needed to equip youths to face upcoming challenges,” said Tunku Ismail, who is also the Johor Crown Prince.

He hoped that in years to come, every Johorean student would graduate from a higher education institution and not just stop at the secondary school level.

“The state needs more technology-savvy students and those who are exposed to ever-changing technology trends.

“It is my priority to ensure that all the Bangsa Johor people have food on the table, a place to stay, and access to quality education for their children, besides access to basic amenities and good healthcare services,” he told the state legislative assembly.

When Tunku Ismail was a guest on the Keluar Sekejap podcast in October last year, he told hosts Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan that quality education for the next generation is something that is close to his heart.

Tunku Ismail also said the Causeway in Johor Baru and the Second Link near here are important bridges to cross the border into Singapore for work as well as for Singaporeans to visit the state.

“Lately, upgrades have been conducted at the Customs, immigration and quarantine complexes at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (at the Causeway) and Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (Second Link), but there are still many shortcomings that need to be addressed.

“I want to see these issues solved without compromise,” he added.

Tunku Ismail also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Federal Government for selecting Johor to implement the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) and Special Financial Zone (SFZ).

Besides significantly boosting Johor’s economic growth, he is confident that Johor and Singapore’s ties would be further strengthened through the initiatives.

He urged the state’s civil servants to do their part in ensuring that the JS-SEZ, SFZ and other related projects are implemented efficiently and on schedule.

He hoped this would help Johor transform into one of the main economic hubs in the region by 2030.

Source link 

Time needed to revamp system, say experts


PETALING JAYA: There is a need to transform the current national education syllabi in keeping with the times and global challenges, but reorienting an education system could take time, say experts.

Dr Yeah Kim Leng, director of economic studies programme at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute of Sunway University, said that for a country to move forward, it is important to create quality and skilled students so that they can compete with their peers globally.

He pointed out that there should be greater emphasis on the four disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and the 3Rs of learning.

The 3Rs refer to the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

“The current education syllabi in national schools definitely need to be reoriented to include more STEM subjects while emphasising the 3Rs. Language skills must also be given more focus, especially due to the deterioration of language proficiency.

“Language proficiency is important in a borderless economic landscape, and what more with advanced technology? The emphasis should be on the English language, as it is widely used in the business world, and with the rise of China as an economic power, Mandarin, too, is of much importance.

“Malaysian schools need to enhance learning; students need to learn how to learn so that they can be critical thinkers with a broad understanding of world developments.

“The focus should be on financial literacy and cross-cultural acculturation, which will allow students to be flexible in a multicultural setting. It is very important for Malaysians to be inclusive and apply their skills to take the country to greater heights,” said Yeah.

“The education ministry needs to update itself to incorporate and review the education system to ensure that the national education institutions keep up with the times.”

National Union of Teaching Profession president Aminuddin Awang said the current Malaysian National Education Blueprint ends in 2025, and changing it abruptly would be unwise.

“We cannot deny the recent World Bank report on Malaysia’s education standards, as it was done based on data, and we should accept such criticism for our own good. I believe the Education Ministry understands such criticism from the World Bank and has already started to engage the stakeholders in national education to get their inputs for the next blueprint.”

Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said teachers are the most important factor in making any national education system a success.

“As long as the teachers cannot deliver, no matter what syllabi you come out with, if the same teachers are going to deliver it the same way, the results will not get any better.

“The authorities overseeing the national education system need to reconsider the training methods for teachers.

“The Education Ministry has obviously been in denial by stating that there is nothing wrong with the education system,” said Azimah.

Source link 


Monday, February 19, 2024

China’s C919: first home-grown airliner makes international debut, Secures Biggest-Ever Order, showing China's efforts in self-innovation in high-end manufacturing industry

 

China's challenger to Airbus and Boeing's passenger jets, the narrowbody C919, made its international debut in Singapore on the eve of opening day of its air show. It comes after Chinese planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) signalled an interest in gaining a bigger foothold in the aviation market in 2024.


Singapore Airshow, starting point for C919 to step onto world stage: Global Times editorial


Chinese-made craft takes flight | The Star


Chinese-made craft takes flight | The Star



China's homegrown C919 secures biggest-ever aircraft order




China Eastern Airlines has signed a purchase contract with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) for an additional 100 C919 planes, marking the largest single order for the China-developed large passenger aircraft.

According to the plan, the new C919 aircraft purchased by the airline company will be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2031.

China Eastern Airlines placed an order for five C919 planes in 2021. The company has taken delivery of two jets and put them into operation on the air route between the cities of Shanghai and Chengdu.

China's C919 passenger plane completes inaugural 

 

commercial flight, showing China's efforts in self-innovation in high-end manufacturing industry

This photo taken on May 28, 2023 shows a C919, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft, getting ready for its first commercial flight in east China's Shanghai. C919 kicked off its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing on Sunday, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market. (Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 28, 2023 shows a C919, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft, getting ready for its first commercial flight in east China's Shanghai. C919 kicked off its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing on Sunday, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market. (Xinhua)



C919, China's self-developed large passenger aircraft, completed its inaugural commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing on Sunday, creating a milestone in China's aviation industry, which aims to compete with global players such as Boeing. 

Developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the C919 aircraft, China's first self-developed large jet airliner, is important proof of China's strength in self-innovation in the high-end manufacturing industry, and its solid market performance will foster further confidence in future orders and among customers, Chinese experts said. 

The C919's inaugural flight departed at 10:32 am from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and landed at Beijing Capital international Airport at 12:31 pm, where it was welcomed with a special water-salute ceremony.

The highly anticipated flight, codenamed MU9191 flying from Shanghai to Beijing was flown by China Eastern Airlines, and carried around 130 passengers.

"More than 20 years ago, I heard many people in the aviation field talking about their dream of making a big plane. I am so excited to be one of the first passengers to fly on the C919," a passenger named Shi Ding told the Global Times on Sunday.

Shi said he arrived at the Shanghai airport at 7:40 in the morning, and there were around 500 people attending the inaugural ceremony. "I have been closely watching the development of C919 for years. As an aviation fan, I am so proud that China now has such an advanced aircraft manufacturing industry."

The video clips he sent to the Global Times showed passengers waving national flags and the cabin filled with a euphoric atmosphere, with excited passengers taking photos and shooting videos. The carrier even prepared meals selected by poll by the passengers. 

Both the business and economy class on the C919 use a new generation of domestically designed and produced cabin seats. Among them, eight business class seats use an all-aluminum alloy frame structure with a cradle design and a backrest that can reach 120 degrees. The distance between the front and rear seats exceeds 1 meter. 

The C919 cabin has an aisle height of 2.25 meters, and the middle seat in the economy class triple seat is 1.5cm wider than the two seats on the end, bringing passengers more comfort.

The C919 project was launched in 2007 and completed its first test flight in 2017. On September 29, 2022, it obtained the Type Certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's aviation sector regulator. 

With between 158 and 168 seats, and a flight range of 4,075 to 5,555 kilometers, the C919 is designed to have the same level of specifications as the popular Airbus 320 and Boeing 737.

According to China Eastern Airlines' plan, the first C919 plane will initially be operated between Shanghai and Chengdu, capital city of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, before flying more routes. 

China Eastern has also set up special teams including cabin services to ensure security and guarantee services.

New starting point

"Based on earlier full preparations, the maiden flight is a new starting point for China Eastern," Li Yangmin, vice chairman of the Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Corp, was quoted as saying at the inaugural ceremony held in Shanghai on Sunday.

Li said the airline will take this commercial operation as an opportunity, and strive to meet market demand with high-quality supply, allowing people in China and even around the world to use the plane. 

Before the flight, other Chinese airlines also expressed interest in the plane. On Thursday, Ma Chongxian, chairman of Air China Ltd, said that in 2010 the company signed a purchase agreement with COMAC for 20 C919 aircraft, and continued to pay attention to the progress of the C919.

 China Southern Airlines vice chairman Han Wensheng said on the same say that his company is paying great attention to the C919 aircraft and maintaining close communication with COMAC.

COMAC said in January that the company expects to reach an annual production capacity of 150 C919 planes within five years, and has already received more than 1,200 orders, according to media reports.

Chinese experts said that the commercial fight is of great significance to China's equipment manufacturing industry, as the civil aircraft manufacturing industry is a symbol of a country's technological and industrial strength.

For China's aviation manufacturing industry, China's commercial aviation must have its own place in the world, in terms of not only market size and development potential, but also equipment manufacturing, Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times. "We must have our own manufacturing capabilities for regional aircraft and large commercial airliners," he noted.

We should focus on core technologies in key fields and continue to work together to tackle bottleneck problems, we must put safety and reliability first and eliminate all potential hazards, and we must do a good job in the large aircraft sector, said China's top leadership at the end of September last year that when the C919 passenger jet was issued the type certificate by China's civil aviation regulator, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

COMAC, the developer of the plane, extended its warm congratulations over the flight on its WeChat account with a line from an ancient poem that translates as "Till the day the strangled dragon vibrates in fresh rainfall, it will surely roar to the sky like a flying crane."


Photo: Courtesy of China Eastern Airlines

Photo: Courtesy of China Eastern Airlines

Global competition 

Hours after the conclusion of the inaugural commercial flight, global plane manufacturers sent messages of congratulation. 

"On the occasion of the successful commercial maiden flight of C919 today, we would like to extend our sincere congratulations to China Eastern Airlines and COMAC," Boeing said on its official WeChat account, while Airbus also sent warm congratulations to China Eastern Airlines C919 on successfully completing its first commercial flight.

In an earlier interview with Global Times in April, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said that COMAC has brought new competition to the market. "We have great respect for any competitor in the market," he said.

The C919's first commercial flight means that China's extraordinary aviation capabilities have started to accept the challenges of the market, Qi Qi, an independent market watcher, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

With the accumulation of flight hours, there will be more confidence in potential orders and among customers, as well as more growth in the entire large aircraft industry chain, Qi remarked.

A market forecast report released by COMAC in 2021 predicted that China's aviation market will receive 9,084 passenger aircraft with more than 50 seats over the next 20 years, with a value of about $1.4 trillion. It is widely believed that a trillion-dollar level aircraft industry chain is gaining momentum with the commercialization of the C919.

As for future flights, Qi said it is still too early to talk about exploring the international market at this stage. 

Prior to this, it is necessary to obtain airworthiness certifications from the civil aviation authorities of other countries, and obtaining the type certification from Federal Aviation Administration and European Union Aviation Safety Agency will be an important indicator of how the C919 will explore the international market, Qi said. 

It has been predicted that the C919 will still face many difficulties amid a changing international political backdrop, and the difficulties may be even greater than expected. As a strategic project of China's national aviation industry, the goal of the C919 will not waver, Wang said. China will mobilize and pool all its scientific research and industrial resources to push this project to a successful end.

"For a developing country like China, which is under enormous development pressure, we have no other choice but to face up to the difficulties," Wang noted. 

Saturday, August 5, 2023

Is progressive wage model the solution?

 



Malaysia is set to announce a progressive wage model. What will this mean for the future of employee wages in the country?

Dissecting the practicality of the progressive wage model and its potential impact on Malaysian's welfare


AS the Unity Government continues apace on its attempt to uplift the livelihood of Malaysians, as announced at the launch of the Madani Economy by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last week, the debate on the best wage structure for the country rages on.

Especially pertinent after a number of announcements by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli regarding the government’s consideration and proposed implementation of the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which could be modelled after neighbouring Singapore’s version, wage experts and economists are offering varying opinions on the subject.

To be clear, Singapore unveiled its own PWM since 2012, and according to its National Trades Union Congress, the PWM is based on the key objectives of helping Singaporean workers climb the four ladders of skills upgrading, productivity improvement, career advancement and wage progression, on top of helping companies make better use of and retain their workforce.

Notably, the island nation does not have an official blanket minimum wage structure, except for two sectors, namely for cleaners, where the minimum wage is S$1,000 (RM3,390) per month; and for security guards, who are required by law to be paid S$1,100 (RM3,729) monthly.

However, its Manpower Ministry has outlined the progressive wages (PWS) Singaporean workers are to be paid in a number of sectors, including the landscaping, food services and retail industries.

For example, a local Singaporean working as a cashier has to be paid a minimum of S$1,850 (RM6,277) monthly from Sept 1, 2022, which would increase to S$1,975 (RM6,701) from Sept 1 this year; while a landscape worker would be required to be paid S$1,650 (RM5,599) per month.

Singapore also has a Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) – S$1,400 (RM4,746) – which its Manpower Ministry describes as a determinant for the number of local employees who can be used to calculate a firm’s work permit and S Pass quota entitlement.

Since September last year, firms employing foreign workers who require work permits, S Passes or employment pass holders are mandated to pay PW salaries to local workers covered by the relevant Sectoral or Occupational PWS in the aforementioned cleaning, security, landscape maintenance, and retail sectors as well as in-house workers covered by the PWM, while also remunerating at least the LQS to all other local workers.

Can the PWM be successful here? 

The discussion naturally hinges on whether what Singapore is doing can be implemented here, and what are the benefits of a blanket minimum wage structure as compared to a PWM.

Aside from that, the (business) man on the street could also be concerned as to whether the government has set its sights on making the PWM a mandatory initiative, or would this be optional, perhaps at its nascent stage at least.

As argued by Socio-economic Research Centre (SERC) executive director and economist Lee Heng Guie, the PWM offers more of a winwin solution for both employees and employers, if compared to a blanket minimum wage structure.

By looking deeper into the numbers since Malaysia’s Minimum Wage Order (MWO) was first enforced in 2013, he observes that 2022 marks the fifth time of implementation as the minimum wage rate was reviewed at least once every two years.

“The new minimum wage of RM1,500 per month was fully enforced on July 1, an increase of between 25% and 36.3% compared to the RM1,100 to RM1,200 monthly wage in 2019.

“Over the period from 2013 to 2023, minimum wage has increased by 5.8% per annum from RM900 per month for Peninsular Malaysia and 6.5% per annum from RM800 per month for Sabah and Sarawak on Jan 1, 2013, respectively. However, overall labour productivity increased by only 2.3% per annum for the same period,” he reveals.

As such, Lee says the government is looking into the appropriateness of other wage models to benefit both employees and employers, and he believes the PWM may be an appropriate and feasible substitute wage model to improve the income of low-skilled workers to have a living wage.

Theoretically, a living wage differs from a minimum wage because the former refers not just to the existence of a minimum level of remuneration, but also to a minimum acceptable standard of living, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Therefore, living wage rates are usually higher than the minimum wage rate, especially when the latter has been less frequently updated in line with living cost increases.

While concurring that employees should be compensated according to their skillset, efficiency and education levels, Juwai IQI global chief economist Shan Saeed says the issue of increasing wages and productivity would be best based on a market-driven approach.

He tells Starbizweek this would be best achieved if all stakeholders were to get involved to enhance workers’ productivity to ultimately buttress economic outcomes at the macro level.

“Workers’ efficiency, solid skills and education are major variables in influencing economic growth. In turn, economic expansion and innovation have a direct correlation with strong deliverable outcomes benefiting the masses in improving their living standards and purchasing power,” he points out.

Citing the late Gary Becker, former professor at the University of Chicago Booth School and Nobel Laureate, he says Becker believed that investment in an individual’s education and training is like a business investing into equipment, being the epitome of applying economic analysis to human behaviour.

In addition, he says higher wages allow firms to attract and retain better employees – assuming competitors don’t follow suit and raise their wages as well.

“But there is an important – and often overlooked – second effect. Paying wages that are above the market rate, known within economics as efficiency wages, can also be an important motivating force for a company’s existing employee base.

“The intuition is straightforward: higher wages make a job more desirable. This leads to a larger applicant pool waiting to take over when openings occur and makes it easier to replace another employee. Malaysian companies can follow the similar footprints to achieve desirable outcomes,” says Shan.

Handling a chronic situation

While one can understand the perspective of the SERC when it compares the PWM with the MWO, there are parties who are arguing for the benefits of the MWO before embarking on any “progressive” initiatives.

Even Rafizi has reiterated this week that it is his “job”, through government policy, to prioritise increasing the wages of Malaysians, for them to better cope with rising living expenses.

He emphasised that instead of embarking on new billion-ringgit projects, the unity government has fixed its focus on improving the incomes of Malaysians, echoing Anwar’s warning that the country has been caught in a vicious cycle of high costs, low wages and low profits.

In fact, the argument can be made by looking at Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita over the past 50 years, especially against economies that were considered inferior to it but have since made significant progress, advancing beyond Malaysia’s growth. Two good examples of this, of course, are Singapore itself and South Korea.

For starters, the GDP per capita breaks down a country’s economic output per person, calculated by dividing the GDP of a nation by its population. It is a metric often used by economists to analyse the overall prosperity of a country based on its economic growth.

In an article for Taiwan’s The New Lens, Singaporean writer Roy Ngerng observes: “Up until the late-1970s, Malaysia’s total wages per capita were actually higher than South Korea, and were in fact over three times higher in the early-1970s.

“Today, however, the tables have turned and South Korea’s total wages per capita are about four times higher than Malaysia. The total wages per capita of Czechia and Estonia were also similar to Malaysia’s at one point, but have grown to be about 3.5 times that of Malaysia, while Poland is twice as high.”

On top of that, up until the mid 1980s, Malaysia’s GDP per capita – in US dollar terms – was higher or on par with South Korea, while in the early-1990s, Malaysia’s GDP per capita was also similar to that of the Eastern European countries like Czechia, Estonia and Poland.

“In other words, Malaysia’s economy used to be larger than those countries. However, while the economies of those countries have since expanded rapidly, Malaysia’s GDP per capita stagnated in contrast. Today, South Korea’s economy has grown to three times larger than Malaysia,” says Ngerng.

He says the reason is because Malaysia’s wages have stagnated relative to these other countries, and consequently it has hurt the growth of domestic consumption.

In contrast to many economists, Ngerng believes it is not necessary at this point in time for Malaysia to adopt Singapore’s PWM, but rather it should focus on increasing minimum wage more rapidly.

Wages at other levels in Malaysia are not growing faster because Malaysia’s minimum wage is rising too slowly, and with wage increase at other levels being dependent on the growth rate of minimum wage, the stagnant minimum wage therefore prevents wages from rising across the board.

As a result of Malaysia’s wages stagnating, this has resulted in its economy stagnating as well, he says.

A cursory look at the GDP per capita numbers taken in December 2022 on CEIC Data sees Malaysia posting a figure of US$12,472 (RM56,828). In comparison, Singapore is way ahead at US$82,794 (RM377,000), with South Korea also almost three times ahead of Malaysia at US$32,236 (RM146,883).

Notably, Czechia registered a GDP per capita of US$27,566 (RM126,000), while Estonia and Poland both posted respective figures of US$28,568 (RM130.165) and US$18,222 (RM83,000).

Is a Pwm-tiered subsidy the way to begin?

Perhaps a move that could also be given some thought would be to make the PWM optional to businesses, with the government at the ready-to-subsidise progressive and productivity-linked wage increases, tied in with certain key performance indicators that could be seen to contribute to the country’s GDP growth, of course.

Again, Singapore has put in place a similar structure, a fiveyear plan to subsidise wage increases, so as to provide support for businesses to pay higher wages.

Malaysia could copy such a programme where the government subsidies wage increases but on an annually decreasing scale, so that as companies grow more financially sound, they would be taken off the subsidy programme after a number of years to manage their own wage growth measures.

Sunway University professor of economics Dr Yeah Kim Leng is striking a more balanced view when he says the PWM is definitely worth experimenting here – given the decades-old problem of depressed skilled and unskilled wages, with the exception of chief executives and senior management.

“To be sustainable, wages need to be linked to increases in efficiency, productivity and competitiveness.

“Where there are wage rigidities and labour market failures due to weak bargaining power of employees, inefficient labour market information systems and lack of skills recognition and certification, the government has strong grounds to adopt more interventionist policies such as minimum wage regulations and progressive wage models,” he tells Starbizweek.

Suggesting a way for implementation, Yeah says the government would need to bring industry players together with workers’ unions or representatives to determine basic wages, skills grading or levels and wage ranges for each skill level.

The wage ladders for each industry will enable employees to upgrade their skills and earn correspondingly higher wages along with greater responsibilities, says Yeah, with the other challenge being to link higher skills with higher productivity that enables the company to be more productive and generate better profits for the sustainability of wage growth.

He opines: “A minimum wage will ensure that no worker is paid below a decent living wage thereby enabling the country to eradicate hardcore poverty, while a progressive wage model has the advantage of ensuring that workers are paid productivity-linked wages and to earn progressively higher wages that commensurate with ‘middle-class’ status.

“A well-designed PWM will contribute eventually towards achieving what we see in advanced economies where blue collar workers earn as much or higher than white collar workers.”

Cultural attitudes: A road block to growth?

However, there also exists the viewpoint where Malaysians on average are culturally less inclined to acquire knowledge and new skills or upgrade themselves, something perhaps anyone with recruiting experience would understand well.

If such is the case, how would the government go about justifying increasing the minimum wage more quickly in this catch22 situation?

This has led Joey Gan, market lead for Singapore-based regional corporate consultancy firm Precious Communications Pte Ltd, to remark that even for the citystate, one of the primary challenges in implementing PWM is that many training programmes require a certain level of literacy, basic education, or even certifications, but unfortunately, a significant proportion of workers do not meet these requirements.

“I believe Malaysia may also face a similar challenge, on top of the obvious cost factor for many companies. Moreover, the readiness of workers to upskill and adapt to new opportunities is also a key obstacle.

“Personal development through training largely depends on an individual’s internal motivation. Therefore, for this initiative to succeed, employees would need to undergo a radical change in attitude towards training for upward social mobility,” she says.

While a beneficial step would be to prioritise employees’ welfare by implementing some form of PWM, she believes that replicating Singapore’s approach might not be feasible without comparable government incentives – such as subsidies for training and wage increments – especially for Malaysian businesses already burdened with rising operational costs.

Ergo, Gan says employers might prefer the reverse income tax model, while employees may appreciate a reasonable wage increase that keeps pace with inflation.

Resonating with SERC’S Lee, she notes: “The PWM is a more holistic approach to help our low-wage earners enhance their skills and, in turn, their productivity, so increased wages are the ultimate result of this progression.

“While PWM is not without its challenges, it offers employers better productivity from their workforce, considering the cost, and employees benefit from developing and evolving skill sets over time. In the end, it’s a win-win situation where both employers and employees gain from this approach.”

More crucially, however, she points out that the high productivity and standards in Singapore are a result of both the young and the elderly realising that there is no guaranteed help or support as they age.

This awareness, says Gan, is the major reason that has motivated Singaporeans to work harder and longer to secure a better future, despite the role that the PWM may have played.

“It is essential for our entire workforce, regardless of our wage band, to embrace a growth mindset. Increasing wages goes hand in hand with continuous learning, skill development and improvement.

“To facilitate this growth, it is essential for the government and companies to collaborate and propose people-centric policies that support the development of a highly skilled workforce,” she says.

The Star - StarBiz
By keith Hiew keith.hsk@thestar.com.my

Related Stories

Minimum wage still below what’s needed for basic necessities


WHILE many countries globally have embraced a minimum wage policy as a fundamental labour regulation, Malaysia joined this trend comparatively later. For instance, Australia has been implementing a minimum wage policy since as far back...

No shortcuts


WITH electronic trading providing access to global markets through apps on smartphones, the local stock market is in a fight for eyeballs and investors. Hence, the government and regulators are planning a host of measures to bring more...

Don’t use minimum wage as benchmark for starting pay of fresh grads — Minister


PUTRAJAYA: The minimum wage of RM1,500 should not be set as a reference or benchmark by employers to pay the salary of fresh graduates, said Economy Ministry Rafizi Ramli. The concept of minimum is that if the minimum wage exists, then the...

Related posts: