Massive unemployment have hit Singapore, with the unemployment rate currently estimated at least at 10%. Already over 150,000 lost their jobs since January, and at least another 80,000 were gone from the stricter lockdown measures effected on March 31.
Nowhere in Singapore is hiring, including supermarkets at NTUC.
Singaporeans who lost their job today may have already lost it for good. Jobs in Singapore are disappearing in this coronavirus-triggered financial crisis and with companies going into bankruptcies, these work are unlikely to return for at least the next few years until the global economy recover.
Investor confidence in Singapore took a severe beating, after they found out they had been lied to about the so-called “success” during the early stages of the pandemic. Despite all the fake news about being praised around the world, the Singapore government is no exception. The country still went into a lockdown like everyone else, and it handled the outbreak worse than Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
For a slightly larger population size over Singapore, Hong Kong alone has only half the confirmed cases.
Singaporeans of all ages are all now cooped up at home, waiting indefinitely for the government to lift the lockdown measures. They have no income but they still have to pay for the bills. Most are living off finance assistance, but the S$800 monthly welfare lasts only three months until September. For those with bigger families, they will be eating into their savings.
An earlier survey by OCBC published by state media Straits Times found that more than 50% of the population do not have savings to last them 6 months. Accounting for propaganda bias, at least 75% of the population do not have savings to last them even 3 months and a third probably do not even save at all.
There is no timeline given when the lockdown will end, and going by present trends, this will take at least 3 months like China Wuhan city did. Then again, there is this risk of reinfection and Singapore would likely be forced into a lockdown again.
Alex Tan
STR Editor