SINGAPORE: During the Budget debate on Tuesday, some MPs called for a mindset change on how Singaporeans view and value seniors, especially to tackle ageism in the workplace.
Chua Chu Kang MP Alex Yam urged the Manpower Ministry to abolish the retirement age.
Mr Yam said: “Age in itself is not a determinant of worth in your workplace. For if truly meritocracy was what helped our pioneers build a fair and just society we have today, then age in itself should not be a barrier to meritocracy.
“I urge the Ministry of Manpower to consider this. And with it, naturally the differentiated CPF rates will become a topic of the past, because work has become a right.”
Separately, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office Lim Swee Say said productivity growth has been low as several manpower intensive companies and industries have yet to change their ways.
Two Parliamentarians echoed Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s call for a return to the craftman’s values for Singapore’s productivity drive to take off.
Nominated MP, Associate Professor Eugene Tan, said: “This means setting the highest standards, and in doing our own work well is also about imagining the larger categories of ‘good’ in general. Thus, the craftsman’s realm embraces those of the educator, the nurse, the social worker, the counsellor, the bus driver, the chef, the doctor, the lawyer, the engineer, and even the parliamentarian.”
Mr Lim said: “We must try to professionalise every job — doesn’t matter whether they are high-end jobs, or low-end jobs, every job can be professionalised. Ask the gardener in Japan, ask the cleaner in Germany, ask the waiter in USA. They will tell you it is possible to professionalise every job.”
source: channelnewsasia.com
