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Poverty in Singapore - Really? In Singapore?
Wealth Gap in Singapore
Credit Suisse estimates that Singapore’s wealthiest 1% hold a quarter of the country’s private household wealth.
Wealth Insight reckons that the richest 3% hold 85% of private household wealth.
Wealth Inequality Vs Income Inequality
A person with zero income can be very wealthy.
A person may have $10 million in assets (and is hence considered wealthy) but can have zero income in a particular year.
Income and wealth must thus be taken together for a fuller picture of a household’s true economic power.
A 2013 report by the International Monetary Fund states that wealth is “arguably, a better indicator of the ability to pay than annual income”.
The wealth gap is thus more significant than the income gap because a build-up in wealth can become entrenched over time and is harder to redistribute.
http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/budget-2014/story/income-wealth-inequality-more-trouble-society-20140211
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What exactly then, is “poverty” in Singapore?
In Singapore, we seldom see beggars lining the streets or see starving children walking the pavements, scrounging for food. The poor and needy in our society struggle with “relative poverty” — their financial resources fall substantially below what is needed to pay for the necessities of living in Singapore.
They struggle to survive on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, they are caught in a vicious poverty cycle, with little or no means to make a better life for themselves. Their children are often not able to do better than their parents due to lack of access to educational support.
http://www.mws.org.sg/Dispatcher?action=SocialIssueTopic&id=Sc12ce388725076
How big of a problem is poverty in Singapore?The Average Household Expenditure on Basic Needs (AHEBN) is a monetary measure calculated by the Singapore government’s Department of Statistics.
It consists of the average expenditure on food, clothing and shelter a needy household living in a one to two-room HDB flat, multiplied by a factor of 1.25 to account for other household needs like transport, education and other necessary expenditures.
The AHEBN in 2011 was S$1,250 per month for a four-person household.
By this estimate, in 2011, roughly 10-12% of resident households were unable to meet their basic needs.https://centres.smu.edu.sg/lien/files/2013/11/SocialSpace2013-2014_SanushkaMudaliar.pdf
Do YOU agree with this method of measuring poverty?What about basic expenditures necessary for social mobility such as human capital investments, and information and communications technology?
Poverty in SingaporeMeasures and an Evaluation of their
Effectiveness
Taxation as a means of redistributing wealth
GST versus corporate and income tax
The problem with GST is that its a regressive tax
Taxation as a means of redistributing wealth
Singapore has low corporate tax rates
Taxation as a means of redistributing wealth
Singapore (like Hong Kong) has low income tax rates
The Education System in Singapore
Can the education system really function as a social leveller? Does it ensure social mobility?
While our educational system works on the basis of meritocracy, do all students start from the same point?
School Excellence Award (SEA)
School Distinction Award (SDA)
Sustained Achievement Award (SAA)
Development Award (DA) and Outstanding Development Award (ODA) for Character Development
Best Practice Award (BPA)
http://sg.theasianparent.com/primary-schools-rankings-%E2%80%93-top-21/#sthash.Q3f9pgIK.dpuf
No guarantees for parent volunteers at popular schoolsStraits Times, 23 July 2013
Some have put in up to 80 hours of volunteer work. Others have tried to use clan (Ai Tong School - Fujian Huiguan) or church connections. But despite their efforts, parents applying to 21 primary schools may still have to ballot to get a place for their child. Last night, all of these schools had more applications than vacancies - even though there was still a day to go before Phase 2B of Primary 1 registration ends.
The crunch is likely to intensify calls to review the rule giving priority to volunteers or those with school connections. This is because some parents have complained that they are still not guaranteed a place, despite putting in the hours.
Phase 2B gives priority to children of volunteers at the school, active community leaders or members of a relevant church or clan.
CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School in Ang Mo Kio had 30 applicants vying for 12 spots, while Fairfield Methodist School had 39 applications for 18 vacancies.
The volunteer scheme was started in 1998 to encourage parents to get to know the school better before enrolling their child. They typically put in at least 40 hours, although some schools such as Raffles Girls' Primary have asked for 60. Nanyang Primary, meanwhile, has raised the requirement to 80 hours - well above the Education Ministry's guideline of at least 40.
Mr Elvin Ho has decided to look elsewhere due to stiff competition at St Andrew's Junior School, which has 58 applicants fighting for 56 places. The 40-year-old banker had put in about 40 hours of volunteer work with his wife, from arranging and packing library books to running game stations on sports day.
Parents laud ‘positive’ change to Pri 1 registration exercise, but …
Today, 20 August 2013
The change to the Primary 1 registration exercise to reserve at least 40 places for children with no connection to the school of their choice has been met with a mixed bag of reactions from parents, while the Ministry of Education (MOE) elaborated yesterday that these places will be split equally between Phases 2B and 2C.
These phases are for those whose parents are volunteers, or have clan or church affiliations; and for all other Singaporean citizens, respectively. The three earlier phases in the registration exercise are: Phase 1 for those whose siblings are pupils; Phase 2A1 for those whose parents are alumni association members; and Phase 2A2 for those whose parents are ex-students.
Although some lauded the move as a “positive and balanced” step towards ensuring more equal opportunities for children who have no ties to their dream schools, others questioned whether competition for places would simply spread to other popular schools with “less history” or weaker alumni affiliations.
Kids take test to qualify for top tuition centresThe New Paper Tuesday, Mar 06, 2012
Even if parents can afford the exorbitant fees (some charge $350 per subject),
it still does not guarantee their child a spot in some of the elite tuition centres
here.
Firstly, the child has to take a proficiency - or, as some call it, diagnostics - test.
The student must score at least 75 per cent - that's an A - before he will be
shortlisted. After that, the student will have to wait anything from two weeks to a
month before he knows if he has a spot. Some students wait about a year
before getting in.
According to a 2012 study carried out by market research consultancy Blackbox Research:
• 1 in 2 Singaporeans with kids enrolled in tuition spends an average of 500 dollars a
month per child
• Of that group, 1% can spend up to a whopping S$3,000 a month per child
• 16% of families spend between S$1,000 and S$2,000
• 23% of Singaporeans think kids should start tuition in pre-school
• 46% of Singaporeans feel that tuition is necessary to stay competitive with their peers
• 67% of Singaporeans with children currently have or have previously enrolled their
children in tuition
Promoting the idea of Community Self-Helpvia CIP / VIA
Community Self-Helpvia CDAC / Mendaki / Sinda
Community Self-Helpvia CDAC / Mendaki / Sinda
Are there ways of mitigating the consequences of meritocracy?
What is the one obvious consequence of meritocracy that has to do with today’s lecture?
Should those who have benefitted from Singapore’s meritocratic education system have the social obligation (or at least, feel a sense of social responsibility) to help those who might not have been able to cope as well?
Why should we be concerned with poverty?
If Singapore does not mitigate wealth inequalities, we are simply setting the scene for social and political tensions.
Countless political upheavals in modern history have had their roots in wealth inequalities, from the 18th Century French Revolution to the ongoing Arab Spring.
Wealth inequality breeds class consciousness and discrimination.
Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh, co-author of Hard Choices: Challenging the Singapore Consensus
Additional Readings and Resources:http://growingupwithless.sg/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26349689http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/11/singapore-poverty-spotlight-20131178362669442.htmlhttp://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/budget-2014/story/income-wealth-inequality-more-trouble-society-20140211http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/mindsets-must-change-help-poorbut-whose