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Dear
Members and Friends
Yesterday was International
Women’s Day and Commonwealth
Day. We all know the yellow
brick road to gender and racial
equality is never fast or
linear. It is long and winding.
Equal pay for equal work is
still not the norm. Women are
still under-represented on
company Boards in Singapore and
elsewhere. For every few steps
forward we collectively take,
something comes along which
reverses progress.
One
such unintended reversal appears
to be last week’s announcement
of the end of the Letter of
Consent (LOC) system which
enables Dependent Pass Holders
(DPs) to work easily. The
exception is business owners who
meet specified criteria. Chief
among these is providing
employment to Singaporeans. The
reality is most DP business
owners do not earn enough to
employ anyone but they can lead
fulfilling lives.
The
new rules impact women
disproportionately because they
are the majority of working
expat partners and spouses. Some
work in foreign national
business chambers, others in
private education teaching
foreign languages. Others are
entrepreneurs. Much of the work
they do does not take a job away
from a Singaporean.
What
are the initial results? For
now, and until we get clarity,
lots of unhappy, partners and
spouses worried about whether or
not they will be able to work
after their LOC expires and
whether or not their businesses
can survive. Schools worried
about their teachers and
students. The over 40’s worried
about whether or not the minimum
salary of SGD 10,000 applies to
them.
This means lots of
unhappy families. Relocating
foreign executives to Singapore
will be harder if they know
their partner or spouse will not
be able to work. The image of
Singapore as welcoming talent
takes another hit which we can’t
afford. Our society will be the
poorer for it and yet, will
there be a significant increase
in jobs for Singaporeans?
Probably not.
Of course,
the policy intent was not to
impact anyone negatively. It was
to harmonise DP employment terms
with the work pass system. After
all, other countries do the
same. But other countries are
not city-states. This city-state
needs to stay exceptional to
survive and thrive.
Yours faithfully
Victor Mills
Chief Executive |
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