Singapore is moving forward. What can we as a national community do to make sure Singapore’s lower-wage workers share in this progress?
This question drove Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad to chair the Alliance for Action (AfA) for lower-wage workers (LWWs) over the past three years.
Never mind that the pandemic still raged on when the AfA began. Security guards, cleaners, gardeners and retail assistants — and all the other LWWs out there — work hard every day and deserve some support to be uplifted.
“It’s not just about the Government, unions and employers, but all of you here, as members of society who have the desire to accord LWWs with the respect and dignity they deserve. Moving forward, we should continue to change perceptions and encourage our society to respect all workers, regardless of pay or perceived status,” said SMS Zaqy at the final showcase of the AfA this past Saturday (Sept 23).
There, the AfA’s members, which include many civic-minded members of the public, showcased the latest iteration of their projects for improving the lives of Singapore’s LWW:
Experience Day for preschoolers and empathy
Early memories can resonate with people down the years, and so the Experience Day team’s efforts work not just for these current years but future ones as well.
Source: Ministry of Manpower
They share with students exactly what work LLWs do. Some of their latest outreach efforts include showing videos to preschoolers about how cleaners and security guards do their duties. Hands-on activities and teaching the children how to craft thank-you cards for LWWs also feature. All these promote empathy today and seed more understanding attitudes tomorrow.
Currently, the Experience Day team is scaling-up for more impact: they are preparing a proposal for a large local preschool chain to use their teaching materials.
“Kudos to the team comprising Ajay, Ardi, Avtar, Hamid and Roger, for coming up with fun games and activities to allow pre-schoolers to experience the work that lower-wage workers do,” said SMS Zaqy.
SELF for single mums seeking jobs
Motherhood is never easy — and going on this journey of care as a single mum is harder still.
So the Sustaining Employability of Low-income Women and Families (SELF) Team has developed an AI Resume Maker and a job-matching Telegram bot. This is made especially for Singapore’s low-income single mums to find the employment opportunities they need.
There is even an interview questionnaire which the SELF team uses to match users with available jobs and employers. It is a welcome intervention for when employers might ask at the interview stage about children and caregiving arrangements.
Source: Ministry of Manpower
“It is about trying to convince employers that this is a new social compact that we need; something to bridge the wage gap, inequality and bring social cohesion in Singapore. We often think about society in terms of wages and economics, but we have to talk about the social values and the inclusive Singapore that we want to build,” said SMS Zaqy last year (Sept 24) about the intent of the AfA.
Indeed, projects like SELF’s help close the gap between these LWWs and others. It means financial autonomy for single mums as well a renewed sense of empowerment and identity.
Alpha Awards for ethical employers
On the employer end, Alpha Awards is developing an app which benchmarks just how ethical employers are towards LWWs. A survey component, mood-meter application and a “lesson-learnt” questionnaire will feature here.
It is a project which aims for a “pay-it-forward” mindset shift. Companies who score well on the benchmarking app can get publicity as success stories to inspire more ethical behaviour elsewhere.
Source: Ministry of Manpower
“As Progressive Wages uplifts [LWWs] in their respective jobs, the element of respect and understanding for their work is part of social cohesion. Other aspects like rest areas, working conditions, making sure they get their rest hours, should be second nature to us as we think of them as employees who need rest and respect in their roles and not be treated as second-class citizens,” stated SMS Zaqy.
It really is a whole-of-society effort to uplift LWWs, as this brief sampling of some of MOS Zaqy’s AfA projects shows. It is definitely worth it, though. It builds a society which accords dignity and respect to every worker and where tripartism brings out the best in every worker.
It all should — Forward Singapore is in gear.
