PM's National Day Rally Speech re. Employers & Employees...
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Here's an excerpt from the PM's recent speech:
Halimah told me, she went on a walkabout one day and in the market, met an Indonesian maid, just arrived in Singapore. The maid said to her, "Ibu, saya lihat di-Singapura banyak orang tua!" In other words, "Ma'am, in Singapore, there are an awful lot of old people" and in Indonesia, it's not like that. So, I think we have to adjust. There are many issues which are involved in adjusting to becoming an older society, a silver society, sounds better. But today, I will focus only on one of them and that is on how to get people to work longer. We can't retire at 55 and then live on till 80 or more. It's okay if you retire at 55 and you live on for five, 10 years, well, you enjoy your grandchildren, but to work for 30 years of your life and then to cool heels for 25 more years, I think you will go gaga. Cannot be done. You'll have to work longer. It's not easy, but the key to changing this is attitude & the workers' attitude as well as the employers' attitude.
Let me talk first about the workers' attitude. The older workers have to learn to adjust, adapt, learn new skills, accept temporary jobs, contract work and go with the world, with what is available and what they are able to do, and I know of many older workers who have made these adjustments and who have, therefore, been able to find jobs and remain productive with the help of enlightened employers. They have a strong determination not to give up. They stay in the job market -- no matter what happens, they will do it.
NTUC Lifestyle magazine recently, a few months ago, had an article about such a worker. Her name is Shirley Lee, she's 63 years old. She was a clerk, she got retrenched in her 50s. She found another job, she got retrenched again. She is now 63. She has savings, her husband is working, but they have a young son still in JC and they had decided that they want to save money for the son's education, for his future. So, she said, "I'm still fit, I can work, I will work". She tried many jobs, couldn't find an employer. So, she went and got a certificate in cleaning, became a toilet cleaner, not much pay but she did the job and I quote what she said. She told Lifestyle: "The son asked me why I had to stoop so low and be a toilet cleaner, he wanted me to stop. I told him I see no loss of dignity in being a toilet cleaner. I'm earning my living and I'm not robbing anybody. Anyway, what else will I do at home with him so busy in school studying?"
So, with that sort of attitude, Word, Excel, Spreadsheet, when NTUC Lifestyle published her story, she got 71 job offers. She chose one to work with SAGE, the Singapore Action Group of Elders, because she believed in helping others like her. So, I wish her well. I think we all wish her well.
The employers' attitude is equally important. The companies have to give older workers a chance. If when the worker rings up they say, "What's your age?" You say, "Forty-five", and they say, "Don't call me, I'll call you". Then, you can't even start. And some of the companies put up requirements -- spas, front-desk receptionists -- says "40 or below". I don't understand this. If you say "Spa masseuse, work hard, 40 or below", I can understand, but front-desk? Here, you want somebody who will be able to look after the customer, to have some maturity, be reliable, loyal, patient, ready to work, experienced and skilled and I think older workers have that.
I think employers should change their mindsets and give older workers a chance. Older workers, sometimes employers tell me, "Older workers are so slow, I better pay them don't come to work". But I don't think it's necessarily true. They may need a bit more time to get used to the environment, but they are not slow. You go to a fast food joint, you say, "Regular Coke, takeaway" -- if it's a teenager, he knows what you're talking about. If it's somebody my age, I may say, "You want an economy meal, or you want regular? You want to eat here or you want to go?" So, he says, "Regular Coke, takeaway", but "lia bo kiu" (don't understand). But you go to a coffee shop, you say, "One kopi-si kosong, one kopi-gao, one teh-o-peng", no problem, everybody gets exactly the drink which he ordered. So, I think older workers can do it.
We've been having discussions about this very issue in other threads in Club 30 and now, the PM's talking about it.
So, any thoughts on this?
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I'm actually very happy to see that our PM is addressing this age discrimination issue.
When I was working in Human Resources, I was told to screen applicants responding to our ads. There was an 'age limit' for both the blue-collar AND white-collar jobs. At that time, I already felt that an age limit was unfair because age, is in no way, a determinant of one's productivity and suitability for the job. In fact, for certain jobs, it would bode well to employ 'older' staff because the young might get bored and restless quickly, prompting them to look for 'greener pastures', which will then contribute to a higher turnover rate.
Well, hopefully, something concrete would be done to actually encourage employers to employ 'older' folks. It's time this age discrimination thing stops! -
Out with the old and in with the new, a maxim for many areas in life, including employment practices. Most organisations discriminate on the basis of age, they overtly use age as a selection criteria or specify age limits or ranges in recruitment adverts.
The raionale behind such selection criteria is often based on stereotypical attitudes regarding age. Older workers, some assume, are less effective because their age means they can't heck it anymore. Younger people, on the other hand, lack commitment, loyalty and staying power, let alone solid experience. These stereoypes are unsubstantiated.
Employment reasearchs have indicated people only have five years in their entire working life in which they are unlikely to be judged too young or too old for a job. You are safe if you are no younger than 35 and no older than 40.
The demographic case for age diversity is equally clear, with an ageing population and dilemmas in pensions and personal savings, it will no longer allow for a fixed retirement age. People will need to work beyond the increasingly irrelevant mandatory age of retirement and businesses will need to recognise the added value that could be gained from older people with relevant knowledge.
Losing staff over the age of 40 to 50 is haemorrhaging knowledge and valuable experience. By increasing the employment of older workers, a company can achieve significant savings in recruitment and training costs.
Businesses retaining and hiring older workers can project an outward image that appeal to older customers or clients, thereby capture an increasingly bigger slice of this growing market with a high spending power. The weight of demographics will have huge implications for businesses and management.
Both old and young must be defined by their merits, with jobs offered to younger people without unjustified objections and older people allowed the option of later retirement and continued job development. Focusing on age diversity will result in an inclusive and rounded workforce, while simultaneously reflecting the demographic changes in societies. -
you know, we know... but what is happening out there?
the PM says one thing, and his civil service does another...
what i know is that recently, they took the best junior officers of a department for promotion to the ranks of the senior officers... guess what happened? all those over 50 were culled immediately...
the ranking system is equally skewed... those over 55 are left out immediately...
stupid huh? -
Originally posted by the Bear:you know, we know... but what is happening out there?
the PM says one thing, and his civil service does another...
what i know is that recently, they took the best junior officers of a department for promotion to the ranks of the senior officers... guess what happened? all those over 50 were culled immediately...
the ranking system is equally skewed... those over 55 are left out immediately...
stupid huh?
A civil service did this?!!
If anything, they should be the first to put into practice what the PM preaches!!
Whatever happened to leading by example?! -
this kind of speech at times just good to take it on the surface with a pinch of salt included
Whether it will bear fruits, time and history will tells. -
Yo, kops! There you are! About to PM you asking where in the world are you!Originally posted by kops21:this kind of speech at times just good to take it on the surface with a pinch of salt included
Whether it will bear fruits, time and history will tells.
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WTF they talk cock only.
My mum already 50 yrs old and keep worrying if she will get retrench (golden handshake). She said all the upgrading courses were given to the younger colleague and she may be obselete without upgrading.
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Mr Lee points out e general direction S'pore is headin towards as well as painted out a vivid description of e future destination...
But he doesn't seem to care 2 much on how e ppl will get there...some may run...some may walk...some will swim & some will crawl...
I just hope he doesn't forget abt anyone because dats wat S'pore is about...its ppl...not just those who reach e promised land 1st...
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Originally posted by LinYu:WTF they talk cock only.
My mum already 50 yrs old and keep worrying if she will get retrench (golden handshake). She said all the upgrading courses were given to the younger colleague and she may be obselete without upgrading. 
That's just so discriminatory. Gee, I sure hope that your mom will be able to keep her job.
I think for now, that lofty idea is just talk only. The minute employers stop paying lip service only to this very important topic, will be the moment credibility is earned. -
hypocrisy abounds...
"when you are ill, please rest" but behind the scenes, the bosses rate officers with health problems lowly so that they're considered "lousy"
"surface problems when you see them" but when you do so, you're labelled a "troublemaker"
"we value our staff" but whenever there is trouble, the staff gets treated like a mass-murderer even when the complaint is totally a pile of rubbish
heck! there are instances of bosses browbeating their staff by belittling them and insulting them for being "uneducated" if they have lower educational qualifications...
i guess all it takes is one bootlicking running-dog to make it to the top, dragging all his cronies and hangers-on up with him, to perpetuate the rot...
alas... -
It's no wonder that the young are becoming disillusioned here... those who are wise enough will realise that someday, they'll grow old too, and then, the same thing they're witnessing will happen to them.Originally posted by Xiao Jun:Mr Lee points out e general direction S'pore is headin towards as well as painted out a vivid description of e future destination...
But he doesn't seem to care 2 much on how e ppl will get there...some may run...some may walk...some will swim & some will crawl...
I just hope he doesn't forget abt anyone because dats wat S'pore is about...its ppl...not just those who reach e promised land 1st...
It's time that we see CONCRETE ACTIONS being taken to stop this discrimination. If my memory serves me right, this issue was first discussed in the Straits Times' forum as far back as 8-9 years ago! Back then, not only age discrimination was brought up, race discrimination was also highlighted.
And now, close to a decade later, we're STILL talking about the same issue. Enough talk already!! ACTION, please!! -
Talk is empty...but its e oni thing most S'poreans can do...& we do it behind a mask...but as long as e top is reminded of it...we can all hope for e day dat it'll happen...borrowing a line from Martin Luther King, Jr.Originally posted by Rhonda:It's no wonder that the young are becoming disillusioned here... those who are wise enough will realise that someday, they'll grow old too, and then, the same thing they're witnessing will happen to them.
It's time that we see CONCRETE ACTIONS being taken to stop this discrimination. If my memory serves me right, this issue was first discussed in the Straits Times' forum as far back as 8-9 years ago! Back then, not only age discrimination was brought up, race discrimination was also highlighted.
And now, close to a decade later, we're STILL talking about the same issue. Enough talk already!! ACTION, please!!
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -
if only talking about it on national tv is going to help.
talk only! any concrete steps to correct or improve the situation?