The People’s Action Party (PAP) launched a new initiative to raise awareness and support for mental health, named #BetterTogether.

The video, directed by Royston Tan, saw appearances from Minister of Education Chan Chun Sing, Minister of State for Education and Social and Family Development Sun Xieling, and Jalan Besar MP Wan Rizal Wan Zakaria, reflecting on their experiences.

Here is what the PAP said on Facebook

Today, we launched our initiative to drive collective action for mental health in Singapore. Consulting various advocacy groups and individuals in the mental health space, Minister Chan Chun Sing, MOS Sun Xueling and MP Wan Rizal listened to and discussed the many perspectives and issues relating to the issue that affect our community.

Mental health concerns everyone, and we believe that nobody needs to deal with mental health struggles on their own.

We are proud of our partners in the community who showed that we can all do something to cast a spotlight and rally others towards this cause. They include Singaporean filmmaker Royston Tan and popular creamery Apiary .

What action will you take to join us in taking collective action?

The Singapore Ministry of Manpower issued a Labour Market Advance Release for the first quarter of 2022 on 28 April.

As the borders reopen, more foreigners are being hired with growth being seen mostly in the construction sector on work permits.

Here is what they said

1. Advance estimates for employment, unemployment, and retrenchments in 1Q 2022 indicate a continuation of the strong recovery momentum from the previous quarter.  Total employment rose, with non-resident employment growth picking up pace and forming the bulk of the increase – mainly work permit holders in the Construction sector – amid the re-opening of our borders.  The resident unemployment situation, which is comparable to pre-COVID, held steady. Retrenchments also declined to a record low.

Main Findings¹     

Total employment continued to expand in 1Q 2022 with increases in both resident and non-resident employment

2. In 1Q 2022, total employment (excluding Migrant Domestic Workers, or MDWs) expanded by 41,100. This was slightly lower compared to 4Q 2021 (47,900) but remains a robust pace of growth.  With the progressive lifting of border restrictions, the increase in non-resident employment was significantly greater than that of resident employment, as employers replenished their non-resident workforce². 

3. Resident employment trends were mixed across sectors.  Outward-oriented sectors such as Information & Communications and Financial Services continued to see steady resident employment growth.  The former was driven by strong demand for IT and digital solutions, while the latter was in part driven by activities linked to financial services, such as security dealing and payments processing³.  In contrast, resident employment declined in sectors such as Food & Beverages Services, Retail Trade, and Accommodation.  These sectors typically experience employment declines following seasonal hiring for the year-end festive period in the fourth quarter.

4. For non-resident employment, the bulk of the increase was observed for work permit holders in the Construction sector.  In all other sectors, non-resident employment was stable or only saw slight increases.

The unemployment situation held steady in March, after returning to pre-COVID levels⁴ in February

5. In March 2022, the resident and citizen unemployment rates remained unchanged from February 2022, at 3.0% and 3.2% respectively.  The overall unemployment rate edged up slightly from 2.1% to 2.2%, which is comparable to pre-COVID rates. 

Retrenchments are expected to remain low

6. Retrenchments fell to a record low (1,300 or 0.6 retrenched per 1,000 employees) amid a tight labour market.  Employers attributed most of the retrenchments to ‘reorganisation’ or ‘restructuring’.

Conclusion

7. In the coming months, we expect non-resident employment to continue to recover, given the significant relaxation of border measures from April 2022. This will alleviate some of the tightness in the labour market.  As economic recovery continues to drive demand for workers, we expect the resident unemployment rate to stay low, and resident employment to continue to grow modestly.  Nevertheless, downside risks to economic growth have increased due to the global economic uncertainty arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, protracted global supply disruptions driven largely by the conflict and the ongoing pandemic, monetary policy tightening in advanced economies, and continued uncertainty over the trajectory of the pandemic.  These factors could affect business sentiments and profitability, and in turn, labour demand. 

8. We encourage employers and workers to make full use of Government programmes to seize new opportunities amidst the recovery. 

a. The Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) provides salary support for eligible employers to expand local hiring.  It has supported close to 600,000 local hires by 74,000 firms between September 2020 and November 2021. We have extended the JGI to September 2022, covering mature hires who have not been in work for at least six months, persons with disabilities, and ex-offenders.  Eligible employers can receive up to $21,600 per hire over a 12-month period.

b. The SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Programme (SGUP) offers attachment opportunities for mid-career jobseekers.  From its launch until January 2022, more than 7,200 locals have been placed into attachments, each receiving up to $3,800 in training allowance.  This allows employers to better assess the job-fit of mature jobseekers, while providing them with training and industry experience.

c. Employers can tap on the Support for Job Redesign under Productivity Solutions Grant to improve job quality and attractiveness to workers.  Workforce Singapore (WSG) also offers Job Redesign Reskilling Programmes to support employers in upskilling existing employees to take on enhanced job roles.

d. Jobseekers who require career matching services, including those in short-term COVID roles looking for full-time opportunities, can approach Workforce Singapore (WSG) and NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute.

9. The Labour Market Report 1Q 2022, due for release in mid-June 2022, will provide more details – including the breakdown of resident and non-resident employment⁵, sectoral breakdowns, number of job vacancies, labour turnover, and re-entry rates among retrenched residents – to give a fuller picture.  For more information on the trends and figures pertaining to total employment change, unemployment rates, and quarterly retrenchments, please refer to the Annex below.

A Facebook user, Flora Yan, shared how she was using PayLah to make payment and the transaction had apparently failed twice, so she made payment again via cash. But she later found out that the money from the PayLah transactions had gotten through.

Here is what she said

Please be very careful the next time you pay your merchant via PayLah!.

I had a bad experience at Kra Pow restaurant at Far East Plaza #03-26/27

which I had dinner on the 16 April.

As payment was not available via credit card I paid via PayLah!.

The transaction failed. I was given a failed transaction slip and told to scan the QR code again.

The transaction failed again. I was given another slip and told to scan again. This time I was sceptical of double deductions but the staff assured me this was a common paylah! issue and the funds would be credited back into the account within a few hours. I gave her the benefit of doubt and paid by cash instead.

Before I left the restaurant I asked the staff if I could leave down my contact details. They could check their PayLah! report at the end of the day and call me if there was a double payment.

The staff insisted that I only call them if the amount was not credited by end of the day which they will then call the bank to check.

By Saturday midnight the amount was not refunded back to my account.

And by Monday morning there was still no credit.

I decided to call the bank instead of the shop which the staff seemed reluctant to help. After going thru 2 lengthy calls, the bank investigated and confirmed the failed transactions and provided me a reference number which I had to follow up with NETS for the refund.

After calling NETS they reverted back to me the next day and informed I would be refunded latest by the same Friday week.

The amount was finally credited back to my account on the Friday 22 April, 6 days after the transaction date.

The amount here might be small but much time was committed for the follow up calling the respective organizations and checking the bank account everyday.

Mine might be a very small amount but

if the amount ran into a few $100s it might cause some anxiety to the person.

So the next time you decided to pay using PayLah! , better think twice. It might be done thru the Nets system but a declined transaction does not mean the transaction is voided. The amount might still be debited from your account and not instantly refunded.

Edit: Need to clarify the first deduction was reversed within an hour while I was at the restaurant. It was the second deduction that took days to refund.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan told their Malaysian counterparts that executed Malaysian drug trafficker Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was accorded full due process under the law.

Both PM Lee and Dr Balakrishnan’s reply to Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah were made the day before Nagaenthran was executed, according to the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

Sabri and Saifuddin had reportedly written letters to PM Lee and Dr Balakrishnan, asking the Singapore government to consider and commute the death sentence of Nagaenthran, according to Bernama.

The letter also expressed Malaysia’s openness to discuss the possibility of implementing an international prisoner transfer programme between Malaysia and Singapore.

A spokesperson for MFA said that both PM Lee and Dr Balakrishnan had replied to their counterparts in Malaysia to convey that the Nagaenthran was accorded full due process under the law.

𝗪𝗣 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮

𝘞𝘗 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘺 2022 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦

This Labour Day will be our third successive one in the COVID-era. Over the last two-and-a-half years, we have seen Singaporeans demonstrate their resilience in adapting to the challenges brought on by the pandemic.

Despite the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us, the Workers’ Party worries that rising prices will bite ever harder in 2022. Singaporeans, especially lower income workers, are struggling with the increased cost of living arising from the higher prices of utilities, public transport, food and other essential items. For the sandwiched class, these cost rises are eating into precious wage gains, even as they have to support retired parents and their school-going children. They deserve more support.

The Workers’ Party is concerned that the Government’s planned GST hike will exacerbate inflationary pressures. We therefore cannot agree with the Government’s decision to raise the GST. We have put forward in Parliament four alternative levers for raising revenue: adhering to the OECD’s proposed global minimum corporate tax rate, taxing wealth, increasing the reserves contribution and taxing externalities. Each lever on its own can generate more than what a 2% GST hike will. We should exhaust these revenue-raising possibilities before turning to a GST hike.

We repeat our General Election 2020 manifesto calls for the introduction of a national minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws and a redundancy insurance scheme so as to improve outcomes for our workforce and strengthen safety nets. We are glad to note that the Government announced in 2021 that it will require companies hiring foreign workers to pay all their local employees at least the Local Qualifying Salary of $1,400, and will enshrine into law the current workplace anti-discrimination guidelines.

Singaporeans owe a debt of gratitude to the frontline workers in this battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Workers’ Party wishes to also express our appreciation to the public officers tasked with executing the new policies and unprecedented measures to help our country weather through the worst of the pandemic.

Last but certainly not least, we thank all caregivers who have to juggle their work with caring for family members at home. They too are essential workers, albeit unpaid and often under-appreciated. We thank them for their loving toil and sacrifice.

This Labour Day, the Workers’ Party renews our commitment to fight for a brighter tomorrow for Singapore and encourages all Singaporeans to take heart as we move forward together in these uncertain times.

Majulah Singapura.

1 May 2022

The Workers’ Party