Diary of A Singaporean Mind, 27 Aug 2008"During the good times about 20-30% of Singaporeans earn barely enough to make ends meet - there is no way for them to save up for hard times. When the recession comes and they are retrenched, they are underwater almost immediately. Our govt schemes like workfare assumes that times are always good and jobs (though low paying) are plentiful. So what happens during recessions? In 1998, many were retrenched including professionals - when they run out of spare cash, had their electricity cutoff and defaulted on their HDB payments, they would queue up at the MP's office to ask for help. I'm not too sure what help the MP gives them - maybe ask Singapore Power for a grace period. Bills run up very fast because people have little savings. We have a system in place to go for the highest GDP growth, when that growth stalls...things unravel quickly."
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