SINGAPORE — The vulnerabilities of low-wage and elderly workers as well as freelancers and women featured strongly in Parliament on Tuesday (May 15), with several Members of Parliament, including heavyweights from the Labour Movement, speaking up on the second day of debate on the President's Address.

Income inequality and the disparity in resources between high- and low-income households is stark and inclusive growth should be a priority amid the ongoing push to transform the economy, they said.

While the Progressive Wage Model has helped to increase the wages of more than 70,000 workers in the cleaning, security and landscaping industries, there are other others in food and beverage, clerical and retail sales roles seeing low wage growth and stagnating wages, said Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol).

"The tripartite partners in these industries need to come together to see how low-wage workers in these sectors could be helped as well. We need to do things differently to help these workers as well," he said.

Mr Zainal urged the fourth generation ministers to direct industry stakeholders to think about engendering inclusive growth.

"This is important, otherwise we place our vulnerable workers at risk of having the progress made to better their lives amount to nothing in the face of inflation and technological disruptions," Mr Zainal said.

HELP OLDER WORKERS AT RISK OF DISPLACEMENT

Older workers aged 50 and above now make up one-third of the resident workforce, or 750,000 out of 2.175 million individuals, said Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How, who is MP for Jalan Besar and deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

The proportion of workers aged 50 and above in the resident workforce has increased from 25.7 per cent in 2007 to 34.4 per cent last year.

Elderly workers were mainly employed as cleaners, labourers and related workers (120,000 workers); service and sales workers (110,000 workers); plan and machine operators and assemblers (99,000 workers), he said.

It is important for the Government to assess which of these occupations, or industries, are prone to changes in technology or business models, so that it can prepare for the older workers to be retrained or upgraded before too many of them are displaced, he said.

The elderly may face obstacles in training for new skills, said Tampines MP Desmond Choo, NTUC assistant secretary-general.

He met a woman in her mid-50s working in the printing industry who understood she was in a sunset industry, but was reluctant to leave it because she did not want to take a pay cut by jumping into a completely new job. Her children had yet to start working and she found the process of retraining to be daunting, he said.

Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon said attitudes towards technology should change and workers should embrace it as a tool for work.

Recounting the story of Mr Aw Eng San, a 53-year-old PSA crane operator, Dr Koh said Mr Aw was initially apprehensive about the company's decision to automate the yard cranes, but he and his colleagues were reassured they would still have jobs and were persuaded to undergo training to upgrade their skills.

Mr Aw has settled into a new role in the automated yard operations control centre managing "exceptional situations for a fleet of automated cranes", using a joy-stick and hi-definition remote cameras, said Dr Koh, NTUC's new deputy secretary-general.

Being tech savvy would enable seniors to live independently in the comfort of their homes and community, added MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling.

LOOK OUT FOR WOMEN AND FREELANCERS TOO

The welfare of freelancers in Singapore was also mentioned by Ang Mo Kio MP Ang Hin Kee, who is the executive adviser of both the National Taxi Association and National Private Hire Vehicles Association.

Noting how ride-hailing company Uber "came, disrupted and left abruptly", he proposed four areas to strengthen the support for freelancers – who include those in the media, sports coaches and instructors.

Job seekers and school leavers should be educated on what to look out for if they choose to embark on freelancing as a career, he said.

Freelancers could also be given access to insurance products to protect them from the loss of income in the event of a long-term illness or injury, he said.

A dispute resolution framework should also be set up by the supervising government agency. "Such dispute resolution systems allow freelancers to work through payment disputes with the production houses, schools or taxi operators," said Mr Ang.

Women should also be given more support to get back to work and achieve their fullest potential, said MPs like Nominated MP K Thanaletchimi and Ms Tin. Ms Thanaletchimi raised issues related to working women, such as flexible work arrangements and having rooms at workplaces for lactating mothers.

Digital platforms can allow women to exchange useful information and create job opportunities, Ms Tin said.

Marine Parade MP Fatimah Lateef spoke about closing the income gap between the genders.

"Though we pride ourselves to be an envy of the world, but we are not quite there yet when it comes to women in the workforce," Ms Thanaletchimi said.