Singapore is striving to be a fair and inclusive society;
however, in order to do so they must overcome two challenges- help the senior
citizen Singaporeans live more comfortably and try to contain the widening
income gap. In addressing senior citizens, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman
Shanmugaratnam, said that the government is going to do more to help them,
especially those who have very limited cash savings. He made it clear that the senior
citizens today have lower CPF balances as their wages were much lower 20 or 30
years ago, and they were required to set aside a much lower amount of money. He
has this to say, "We will help them use this wealth to boost their
retirement income. At the same time, we will give them greater assurance of
being able to afford their healthcare". When addressing the income
inequality Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that Singapore's
income inequality will even be wider than in larger countries, like in many
other global cities. Prime Minister Tharman emphasized on the fact that,
currently there is evidence of a considerable amount of social mobility in
Singapore, pointing out that top students come from schools all around the
island. Though evidence is abundant, the Finance Minister said it will get more
difficult to keep up this mobility in the coming years, "precisely because
we achieved a very high degree of mobility in the past". Stressing on
education and jobs as being the success in Singapore, it was said that the government
will do more to help better the lives of children from disadvantaged homes, starting
earlier in their lives and have better
quality pre-schooling and after school care. "We are also broadening
education so that every student can develop their strengths, in and out of the
classroom," he added. The government is investing heavily in providing
adult workers opportunities to keep up-skilling; however, they are reminded
that they should also groom a larger pool of social workers and other
professionals, to help lower-income families overcome the more complex problems
that many face.
It’s great that
Singapore is striving to become a better nation and help the “poor-man”, but in
order to build a nation back up, it take a lot more than just “evidence” of a
considerable amount of social mobility. “Social mobility refers to the increase
or decrease of the class or status of individuals or groups. This movement
requires an open class system or social structure that provides opportunities
for changing one’s relative position in the society.” Therefore I think Singapore has a long road
ahead of them when it comes to closing that widening income gap. I agree with
the Finance Minister when he said it will get more difficult to keep up this
mobility in the coming years, "precisely because we achieved a very high
degree of mobility in the past". When a society achieves an extremely high
degree of social mobility in the past it is often harder to keep this mobility
up or maintain it, in Singapore’s case it’s due to a slowing down in economic
growth. Singapore has the highest income gap in developed world. Because of the
income gap, medical costs have been rising much faster than average income and
for some in the lower income bracket it is now unaffordable, which is why
inequality amongst senior citizens should’ve been addressed with a much more
importance. The healthcare system worsens the inequality in societies when it
becomes a burden. An approach such as providing universal healthcare would be a
better fix than just “greater assurance of being able to afford their
healthcare”.
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