GE2025: Calls for universal minimum wage more political than practical, says PAP’s Jeffrey Siow (2025)

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SINGAPORE - Calls by the PSP for Singapore to have a minimum monthly wage of $2,250 are more a political than a practical solution, candidates from the PAP’s Chua Chu Kang GRC said on April 25.

Instead of a universal minimum wage, the PAP Government’s approach is much more precise and aimed at sectors where workers need to be uplifted, said Mr Jeffrey Siow, who was formerly permanent secretary at the trade and industry and manpower ministries.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng also said on April 25 that there is no straightforward solution to lifting wages for lower-income workers, and the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) has worked as it is a collaborative effort that involves the tripartite partners: employers, unions and the Government.

During a walkabout at Chua Chu Kang’s Brickland ward, Mr Siow responded to proposals put up by his PSP opponents, including Mr Lawrence Pek, for a universal minimum wage.

Mr Siow, who is contesting his first general election, said such a policy has only two outcomes.

If the bar is set below the current market wage, then there is no actual impact and is “just a political announcement”. But if it is higher than the market wage, it would force wages at the bottom up, and there would be additional costs that businesses would have to bear.

Mr Siow said Mr Pek’s views on a minimum wage are “curious”, given that Mr Pek was previously the secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, which advocates for manufacturing firms here.

“He appears to be pro-business and to be pro-minimum wage; I don’t know if that squares,” he said.

Mr Siow also responded to Mr Pek’s comments at PSP’s rally on April 24.

Mr Pek spoke about his time running a factory in China, and that the minimum wage policy there had protected workers from “often extremely unscrupulous employers”.

Mr Siow said: “The minimum (monthly) wage in China is $300.”

In China, minimum wages vary according to each province, with the highest being 2,690 yuan (S$485) in Shanghai.

“If Mr Pek is advocating a minimum wage of $300 here in Singapore… he can happily do so (as) the market wage is already above $300,” he said.

Mr Siow added: “The universal minimum wage, most economists will tell you, is a political tool and not an economic tool. The way we have done it is to be very targeted through the progressive wage system.”

Introduced in 2012, the PWM sets wage ladders for certain sectors, such as security, cleaning and landscape among others, to keep wage growth sustainable.

Dr Tan said during the debate on his ministry’s budget in March that the PWM – including the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) and Progressive Wage Mark accreditation scheme for companies that pay their workers progressive wages – now benefits up to nine out of 10 full-time lower-wage workers.

The LQS, which firms must pay in order to qualify to hire foreign workers, is $1,600.

Earlier in the day, Dr Tan also addressed the PSP’s call for a minimum wage. At a walkabout in Teck Whye, he said that the PWM has ensured that a range of workers today – including security officers, lift maintenance and landscape workers – all have their own base wages, and also a salary ladder they can climb as they upgrade themselves.

Dr Tan said the PSP should “keep up closely” with how the PAP has been continuously tweaking its policies to improve Singaporeans’ lives, rather than just claiming that the ruling party had lost its way.

This was in reference to a remark by PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai at his party’s April 24 rally. He said Singapore’s fourth-generation leadership had lost its way,citing a lack of compassion in the Government’s socio-economic policies.

Mr Siow said the PAP has kept its ears on the ground for many years, through weekly home visits, Meet-the-People Sessions and other initiatives.

“We have a strong sense about what the ground feels about things, whether it is government policies or other issues.”

On the eleventh hour swop on Nomination Day that saw Dr Tan go to Chua Chu Kang while Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong was moved to Punggol, Mr Siow noted that the new team had hit the ground from the first day of the campaign.

He said many residents had read the news and understood Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s point that this was about a more balanced distribution of senior leadership across the island.

On his part, Dr Tan told The Straits Times he had been in a race to get up to speed on the needs of Chua Chu Kang residents, given that he is now leading the team, which consists of newcomers Dr Choo Pei Ling and Mr Siow, and incumbent Keat Hong MP Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.

Dr Tan said he intends to see through existing plans, such as new MRT stations to improve the area’s connectivity and some $212 million worth of neighbourhood enhancements under the town council’s five-year plan.

He also plans to port over programmes he introduced in Marine Parade, such as initiatives to support caregivers and at-risk children, once he is more familiar with local needs.

He shared that many residents had asked him why DPM Gan had left.

Ambulance driver Mara Kottaisamy, 53, told ST that DPM Gan was well-loved in Chua Chu Kang, but was unsure of the reception he would receive in Punggol GRC, with its younger profile of voters.

Dr Tan said: “(Many residents) have expressed to me their regret that DPM Gan has left.

“So I said that… I have got very big shoes to fill, and I will do my very best.”

Dr Tan said he does not consider his team to be “new”, and credited Mr Zhulkarnain’s work in Keat Hong and Mr Siow’s work in several government ministries.

“I am certainly not new in terms of being within the Government,” said Dr Tan.

“So, in terms of representation on national issues, policy issues and so on, I hope to be a voice for the residents here in Chua Chu Kang.”

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