PM National Day Rally 2007

Working Longer – more savings for old age

As Singapore continues to strive upon a prospering and blossoming economy, it is undeniable that we are inevitably heading towards an ageing population too. As such, there tend to be in disproportionate to the ratio of young abled working population to handle the burden of the non-income elderlies in Singapore. Such stress upon the working population would hinder the economic aspects of Singapore if the problem persists.

Furthermore, as quoted from PM Lee, "The best way to be alright in old age and to have enough savings is to stay employed and to work longer because with longer life spans, you cannot retire at 55 and live until 80 or 85 or 90. ", with a rise in the life expectancy of our people, it seems inappropriate to keep the retirement age level constant at 55.

Although this might result in a resentment of the elderlies in Singapore due to the fact that they might find themselves incapable of serving the society due to their physically disablities, PM Lee has come up with various counters to resolve the problems that might arise through the rise of retirement age.

Education:-
Changing the mindsets of both employers and workers

By doing so, PM Lee hopes that employers and workers would both consider to employ and re-enter the workforce respectively. In such a case, the older workers whom are often skilled and experienced can play a part in administering the overall movements and system of a corporation. They may take roles such as mentors to help educate and aid the younger workers in their jobs as such, increasing the efficiency and production of various sectors of industries in Singapore.
However, the capacity of such positions may be limited and older workers may be required to work in sectors of industry in a lower position, lower paying job. Such may lead to an resentment of the workers as they have to do biddings of younger workers. Yet, such sacrifices have to be made in order to help Singapore prosper as a better country, moreover, PM Lee has made other efforts to resolve the situation.

Legislation and Incentives:-
To send a clear signal to employers and to the public and to the workers
To encourage older people to work and to encourage employers to hire older people

The better approach which PM Lee is pursuing is to legislate for re-employment -- retire at 62, but re-employ, continue working beyond 62, year to year, but continue working as long as you can. It’s more flexible for both the employers and the employees; not necessarily the same job, not necessarily the same pay. It doesn’t mean that you will definitely get a job, but employer has to make an offer and you take into account the worker’s performance, his health, his preferences and the company’s needs and both sides work out a win-win arrangement, usually year to year. This is what the Japanese have done, but they only took this step after a very long period of preparation and thus, Singapore would also be pursing its footsteps.

But to buttress the legislation, incentives are also provided in order to encourage the re-employment of older workers. By offering incentives to both the employer and the employee, it would stimulate the re-employment rate of the older workers, thus inflicting a considerable rise in the re-employment rate. With both legislation and incentives working hand in hand, it is no doubt that PM Lee is raising the employment rate for the older Singaporeans and help them to save more for old age and this is a core part of his programme to help old people take care of themselves.

doneby: fangyi