I checked this email many times before sending it out but forgot to write a little message up here like I usually do, so this is a little note just so it doesn’t say “MESSAGE” on the website either…
(1)
Who does NTUC even serve? We all know that the National Trades Union Congress is very closely linked to the ruling People’s Action Party—the word commonly used is “symbiotic”. But is this a good thing? Workers’ Party MP Gerald Giam questioned this close relationship in Parliament:
Over time, the deep entrenchment of PAP influence within unions could lead to the perception that unions are not independent bodies representing workers, but extensions of the PAP’s political machinery.
If workers believe their interests are being subordinated to the political interests of the PAP or the political objectives of the PAP, unions may lose their ability to effectively mobilise and advocate for workers.
Umbrage was taken. Indranee Rajah, Leader of the House, pointed out that it’s not uncommon for unions in other countries to be affiliated to political parties, and accused Giam of “venturing more and more into the political realm” instead of focusing on the bill for platform workers that was being debated. God forbid anyone gets political in Parliament.
What would happen if the PAP was no longer in government? Would the union turn into “an instrument of opposition against the new government”, Giam asked. Indranee’s answer was that it’d be entirely up to NTUC to decide which political party, if any, it wants to support. Sure, let’s check in with NTUC secretary-general (currently a PAP member who failed to win a seat at the last election), the deputy secretary-general (a PAP member who’s also the senior minister of state for defence), another deputy secretary-general (PAP member and senior minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office), the assistant secretary-general (PAP MP), the other assistant secretary-general (PAP MP), the other other assistant secretary-general (PAP MP), the other other other assistant secretary-general (PAP MP)… I think you get the idea.
Who’s in charge at NTUC?
You can check out the full list of people in NTUC’s Secretary-General’s Office here, and the Central Committee here. It’s not 100% PAP lah, but the vibe is like when Western food stalls put two lettuce leaves or a tiny dollop of coleslaw on the side of your fish and chips to pretend they are feeding you a balanced diet.
How very dare you, Heng Chee How, one of the NTUC deputy secretary-generals I was referring to above, stood up to rebut Giam. “[Union leaders] are not stooges. Their hearts are in the right place,” huffed the totally not stooge union leader.
“The NTUC has a symbiotic relationship with the PAP so that we can convey the views and need of the workers to our political partner […] and you look at the track record of the PAP for all these years that it has been in government […] Has it sold out the workers? Has it embarrassed our union leaders?” Heng continued, perfectly executing a seamless identity shift between the union leader speaking up about his political partner and the political partner asking if his party has ever let union leaders down.
There was some back-and-forth, but at the end of the day Singaporeans didn’t get much in the way of concrete evidence that NTUC is willing and able to vigorously push back against government policies and ruling party interests if they ever diverge from workers’ interests. From what I’ve seen in the news, the conclusion appears to have been: the NTUC is very good for the workers and the symbiotic relationship with the PAP can only be good for the workers because how dare you be so rude—and political!—as to suggest otherwise.
Business as usual, then.
(2)
Parliament did end up passing the platform workers’ bill. Taxi drivers, private-hire drivers (like Grab drivers) and delivery riders who rely on online platforms will be recognised as a distinct category of workers, separate from employees on the payroll and the self-employed. They’ll get more contributions to their Central Provident Fund (CPF)—there’s a five-year transition period—and work injury compensation insurance policies on par with the coverage that employees get. They can also form associations that’ll be on the same level as trade unions.
Predictably, questions have been raised about whether these increased protections will lead to higher costs for consumers. Even if it does, it’s worth it, a commentary on CNA argues. Okay, but why do such debates always revolve around a binary of choosing between treating workers better and keeping costs low for customers? Could CEOs and rich employers/shareholders perhaps… get less money? For example, in 2021, Forbes reported that Anthony Tan, Grab’s CEO, had a net worth of US$790 million. What if someone like him made normal people money and not crazy rich Asian money? How much would Grab be able to redistribute to the workers on whose labour it rests?
(3)
And while we’re on the topic of money, some big numbers leapt out at me from two unconnected reports this past week.
The Founders’ Memorial at Gardens by the Bay is going to cost $335 million to build, assuming they stay on budget and don’t go over. There’ll be twin two-storey buildings containing exhibition galleries, a viewing gallery, outdoor amphitheatre and a five-hectare public garden, among other things. All for us to commemorate independent Singapore’s pioneers, in case anyone missed the memo from all the National Day Parades and the Lee Kuan Yew/early PAP/Singapore Story-related exhibitions, musicals, plays, books, documentaries, textbooks and school field trips. Could this money not have been used for something else?
Separately, according to The Online Citizen, we’ve all been schooled on financial prudence and prowess by K Shanmugam, Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs and Law. TOC reports that he sold his Good Class Bungalow to a trust in August 2023—to be clear, this is not the Good Class Bungalow he’s currently renting on Ridout Road, but the Good Class Bungalow he bought in 2003 with Big Lawyer Money. He bought the District 10 house for $7,950,000—I told you it was Big Lawyer Money—and let go of it in 2023 for a very huat amount of $88,000,000. (I wish I could make money like that, but even if everyone reading this newsletter gave me a tip right now, I still wouldn’t have the capital.) There is, unsurprisingly, some curiosity as to who the buyer behind the trust is.
I was scrolling through this Reddit post discussing the article and spotted a few comments like “What’s the big deal? Are we suggesting that politicians have to publicly announce/declare their investments?” Erm, yes. Like this Register of Members’ Interests for Australian parliamentarians. Or the Register of Members’ Interests for British parliamentarians. Or Financial Disclosure Reports from the United States House of Representatives. Just to name a few. The more powerful people are, the more it is important to watch them. It’s not about saying that powerful people are all corrupt or lacking in integrity; it’s about having meaningful oversight mechanisms.
* I’m only able to mail books out to Milo Peng Funders in Singapore.
** If a book hasn’t found a home for a long time, I might offer it to the general list of subscribers.
Got some more…
👷🏾♂️ Pay your migrant workers properly. Not I say one (although yes, I also say). Pope Francis say one.
🤖 The Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) (Amendment) Bill has been tabled in Parliament. It aims to target digitally manipulated content—such as deepfakes—during elections.
📱The Mobile Guardian app is out. No surprise there, given security breach that affected 13,000 secondary school students. The Ministry of Education is planning to roll out a new app early next year.
