In his resignation letter to NTUC, PAP Minister Chan Chun Sing came out with yet another “ultimate phrase”:
“Rather than just placing today’s unemployed into today’s jobs, we need to do better by ‘placing today’s unemployed into tomorrow’s jobs’. Ultimately, the greatest achievement is to place tomorrow’s unemployed into tomorrow’s jobs.”
The former army general who is notorious for empty rhetoric and cringe-worthy phrases said the NTUC will continue to “have him as a friend, partner and supporter”, even when he is now Minister of Trade and Industry.
Although Minister Chan Chun Sing has never worked a day in the private sector before, the PAP Minister boasted that he will “protect jobs and the working people”:
“My portfolio at the Ministry of Trade and Industry is an extension of NTUC’s work – ensuring that Singapore’s workers can continue to benefit from good jobs, and businesses will have the opportunities to become more competitive. Our aim is not just to protect jobs, but more importantly, to protect our working people.”
Replacing Chan Chun Sing’s position as NTUC chief is another former army general, Minister Ng Chee Meng. According to state propaganda, Ng Chee Meng was “elected” by 21 NTUC cadre members in an undisclosed “election meeting”.
NTUC is Singapore’s only legal trade union, as all private unions are outlawed by the Singapore government. Collaborating with business and corporation lobbyists in the name of “tripartism”, the PAP government control the NTUC to ensure Singapore employees are given the minimum labour protection and minimal employment benefits.
Under NTUC, Singapore sees one of the highest income inequality in the world and the absence of a Minimum Wage. Salaries for the middle and low income in Singapore have been stagnated for years or depressed, as there is no independent union to bargain for pay raise. Aside from low wages, Singapore employees are also denied basic workers’ rights like a protest.